religiösvsreligiösesWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#11,317
“religiös” frequency rank
#27,023
“religiöses” frequency rank
38340
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature religiös religiöses
Definition die Religion betreffend Nominativ Singular Neutrum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs religiös

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set religiös and religiöses apart are highlighted. They share 8 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

8 ch
religiös
10 ch
religiöses

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. religiös ([ʁeliˈɡi̯øːs]) and religiöses ([ʁeliˈɡi̯øːzəs]) 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 2 extra letter(s) - “religiös” sits inside “religiöses”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 38340, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

religiös is recorded at frequency rank #11,317, classified as anadj, pronounced [ʁeliˈɡi̯øːs]. religiöses is at rank #27,023, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ʁeliˈɡi̯øːzəs].

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 38340, this pair ranks #1,566,523 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of religiös vs religiöses

Shared letters: egilrsö. Private to "religiös": -. Private to "religiöses": -.

"religiös" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCVVC  ·  "religiöses" · 10 letters · shape CVCVCVVCVC

Frequency comparison

religiös#11,317
religiöses#27,023

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "religiös" and "religiöses" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ʁeliˈɡi̯øːs] versus [ʁeliˈɡi̯øːzəs]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "religiös" or "religiöses"?
"religiös" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #11,317 in our German list, against #27,023 for "religiöses". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering religiös vs religiöses

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 “religiös” 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