Which to use
“Positive” is a noun and “positives” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #2,259
- “Positive” frequency rank
- #6,579
- “positives” frequency rank
- 8838
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Positive | positives |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Positiv | Nominativ Singular Neutrum Positiv der starken Flexion des Adjektivs positiv |
Where the eye mixes Positive and positives
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: Positive vs positives
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Positive is [ˈpoːzitiːvə] while positives is [ˈpoːzitiːvəs]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “Positive” sits inside “positives”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 8838, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Positive is recorded at frequency rank #2,259, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈpoːzitiːvə]. positives is at rank #6,579, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈpoːzitiːvəs].
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 8838, this pair ranks #1,982,598 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of Positive vs positives
Shared letters: eiopstv. Private to "Positive": -. Private to "positives": -.
"Positive" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCVCV · "positives" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "Positive" for "positives" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "Positive" or "positives" show up more?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "Positive" and "positives" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "Positive" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "positives" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,982,598 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Positive" and "positives" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "positivem vs positives". 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 #1,982,598 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.