populärvspopuläreWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#11,308
“populär” frequency rank
#18,661
“populäre” frequency rank
29969
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature populär populäre
Definition in der Öffentlichkeit bekannt und beliebt Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs populär

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set populär and populäre apart are highlighted. They share 7 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch
populär
8 ch
populäre

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. populär ([popuˈlɛːɐ̯]) and populäre ([popuˈlɛːʁə]) 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) - “populär” sits inside “populäre”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 29969, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

populär is recorded at frequency rank #11,308, classified as anadj, pronounced [popuˈlɛːɐ̯]. populäre is at rank #18,661, tagged as anadj, pronounced [popuˈlɛːʁə].

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 29969, this pair ranks #1,756,813 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of populär vs populäre

Shared letters: lopruä. Private to "populär": -. Private to "populäre": e.

"populär" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC  ·  "populäre" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCVCV

Frequency comparison

populär#11,308
populäre#18,661

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "populär" and "populäre" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([popuˈlɛːɐ̯] versus [popuˈlɛːʁə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "populär" or "populäre"?
"populär" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #11,308 in our German list, against #18,661 for "populäre". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering populär vs populäre

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “populär” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list