Which to use
“prime” is an adjective and “primera” is an unknown - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #8,611
- “prime” frequency rank
- #38,953
- “primera” frequency rank
- 47564
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | prime | primera |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs prim | Femininum des Ordinalzahlwortes primer |
Where the eye mixes prime and primera
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses prime with primera
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: prime is [ˈpʁiːmə] while primera is [pɾiˈmeɾə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “prime” sits inside “primera”, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs unknown), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 47564, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
prime is recorded at frequency rank #8,611, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈpʁiːmə]. primera is at rank #38,953, tagged as anunknown, pronounced [pɾiˈmeɾə].
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 47564, this pair ranks #1,279,886 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of prime vs primera
Shared letters: eimpr. Private to "prime": -. Private to "primera": a.
"prime" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV · "primera" · 7 letters · shape CCVCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "prime" for "primera" ever safe?
Frequency check: "prime" vs "primera" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "prime" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "primera" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,279,886 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "prime" and "primera" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Primat vs prime". 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 #1,279,886 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.