positivemvspositivesWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#33,764
“positivem” frequency rank
#6,579
“positives” frequency rank
40343
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature positivem positives
Definition Dativ Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs positiv Nominativ Singular Neutrum Positiv der starken Flexion des Adjektivs positiv

Where the eye mixes positivem and positives

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. positivem and positives follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVCVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

9 ch
positivem
9 ch
positives

Why the eye confuses positivem with positives

A purely visual mix-up. positivem ([ˈpoːzitiːvm̩]) and positives ([ˈpoːzitiːvəs]) 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 a single letter - m in “positivem” becomes s in “positives”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 40343, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

positivem is recorded at frequency rank #33,764, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈpoːzitiːvm̩]. 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 40343, this pair ranks #1,511,203 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of positivem vs positives

Shared letters: eiopstv. Private to "positivem": m. Private to "positives": -.

"positivem" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCVCVC  ·  "positives" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • positivemopsitivem · poistivem · posiitvem · positievm · positivemm · positivme · positivvem · posittivem
  • positivesopsitives · poistives · posiitves · positievs · positivess · positivse · positivves · posittives

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "positivem" and "positives" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈpoːzitiːvm̩] versus [ˈpoːzitiːvəs]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "positivem" or "positives"?
"positives" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,579 in our German list, against #33,764 for "positivem". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "positivem" and "positives" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "positivem" 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 #1,511,203 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "positivem" and "positives" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "positivem vs positiver". 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 #1,511,203 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