Which to use
“primär” and “primäre” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #6,338
- “primär” frequency rank
- #18,664
- “primäre” frequency rank
- 25002
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | primär | primäre |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | in erster Linie | Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs primär |
Where the eye mixes primär and primäre
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: primär vs primäre
A purely visual mix-up. primär ([pʁiˈmɛːɐ̯]) and primäre ([pʁiˈmɛːʁə]) 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) - “primär” sits inside “primäre”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 25002, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
primär is recorded at frequency rank #6,338, classified as anadj, pronounced [pʁiˈmɛːɐ̯]. primäre is at rank #18,664, tagged as anadj, pronounced [pʁiˈmɛːʁə].
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 25002, this pair ranks #1,839,541 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of primär vs primäre
Shared letters: imprä. Private to "primär": -. Private to "primäre": e.
"primär" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC · "primäre" · 7 letters · shape CCVCVCV
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "primär" for "primäre" ever safe?
Frequency check: "primär" vs "primäre" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "primär" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "primäre" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,839,541 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "primär" and "primäre" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "primäre vs Primat". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #1,839,541 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.