Which to use
“operativ” and “operative” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #26,991
- “operativ” frequency rank
- #12,357
- “operative” frequency rank
- 39348
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | operativ | operative |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | einen chirurgischen Eingriff betreffend | Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Flexion des Adjektivs operativ |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set operativ and operative apart are highlighted. They share 8 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
A purely visual mix-up. operativ ([opəʁaˈtiːf]) and operative ([opəʁaˈtiːvə]) 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 1 extra letter(s) - “operativ” sits inside “operative”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 39348, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
operativ is recorded at frequency rank #26,991, classified as anadj, pronounced [opəʁaˈtiːf]. operative is at rank #12,357, tagged as anadj, pronounced [opəʁaˈtiːvə].
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 39348, this pair ranks #1,539,256 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of operativ vs operative
Shared letters: aeioprtv. Private to "operativ": -. Private to "operative": -.
"operativ" · 8 letters · shape VCVCVCVC · "operative" · 9 letters · shape VCVCVCVCV