sekundärvsSekundeWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: sekundär is a adjective, Sekunde is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“sekundär” is an adjective and “Sekunde” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#27,929
“sekundär” frequency rank
#3,993
“Sekunde” frequency rank
31922
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature sekundär Sekunde
Definition an zweiter Stelle stehend sechzigster Teil einer Minute; Grundeinheit der Zeit

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set sekundär and Sekunde apart are highlighted. They share 6 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

8 ch
sekundär
7 ch
Sekunde

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: sekundär is [ˌzekʊnˈdɛːɐ̯] while Sekunde is [zeˈkʊndə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 31922, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

sekundär is recorded at frequency rank #27,929, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˌzekʊnˈdɛːɐ̯]. Sekunde is at rank #3,993, tagged as anoun, pronounced [zeˈkʊndə].

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 31922, this pair ranks #1,718,329 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of sekundär vs Sekunde

Shared letters: deknsu. Private to "sekundär": . Private to "Sekunde": -.

"sekundär" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC  ·  "Sekunde" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Sekundeeskunde · sekkunde · seknude · sekudne · sekundde · sekuned · sekunnde · seuknde

Frequency comparison

sekundär#27,929
Sekunde#3,993

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "sekundär" and "Sekunde" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "sekundär" is an adjective and "Sekunde" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "sekundär" or "Sekunde"?
"Sekunde" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,993 in our German list, against #27,929 for "sekundär". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering sekundär vs Sekunde

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “sekundär”; for a noun, it's “Sekunde”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “sekundär” 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