neutralvsneutralerWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

“neutral” and “neutraler” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#8,759
“neutral” frequency rank
#26,548
“neutraler” frequency rank
35307
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature neutral neutraler
Definition nicht parteiisch und/oder voreingenommen Nominativ Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs neutral

Where the eye mixes neutral and neutraler

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence.

7 ch
neutral
9 ch
neutraler

Look-alike desk: neutral vs neutraler

A purely visual mix-up. neutral ([nɔɪ̯ˈtʁaːl]) and neutraler ([nɔɪ̯ˈtʁaːlɐ]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “neutral” sits inside “neutraler”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 35307, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

neutral is recorded at frequency rank #8,759, classified as anadj, pronounced [nɔɪ̯ˈtʁaːl]. neutraler is at rank #26,548, tagged as anadj, pronounced [nɔɪ̯ˈtʁaːlɐ].

Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.

With a confusion score of 35307, this pair ranks #1,643,090 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of neutral vs neutraler

Shared letters: aelnrtu. Private to "neutral": -. Private to "neutraler": -.

"neutral" · 7 letters · shape CVVCCVC  ·  "neutraler" · 9 letters · shape CVVCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • neutralenutral · netural · neurtal · neutarl · neutrall · neutrla · neutrral · neuttral
  • neutralerenutraler · neturaler · neurtaler · neutarler · neutraelr · neutralerr · neutraller · neutralre

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "neutral" and "neutraler" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([nɔɪ̯ˈtʁaːl] versus [nɔɪ̯ˈtʁaːlɐ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "neutral" or "neutraler"?
"neutral" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,759 in our German list, against #26,548 for "neutraler". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "neutral" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "neutraler" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,643,090 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "neutral" and "neutraler" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "neutraler vs neutrales". Nearby pair
  • Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes

Confusion rank #1,643,090 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list