strengvsstrengeWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#3,777
“streng” frequency rank
#9,101
“strenge” frequency rank
12878
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature streng strenge
Definition auf genaue Einhaltung der Regeln wertlegend Nominativ Singular Femininum Positiv der starken Flexion des Adjektivs streng

Where the eye mixes streng and strenge

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.

6 ch
streng
7 ch
strenge

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. streng ([ʃtʁɛŋ]) and strenge ([ˈʃtʁɛŋə]) 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) - “streng” sits inside “strenge”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 12878, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

streng is recorded at frequency rank #3,777, classified as anadj, pronounced [ʃtʁɛŋ]. strenge is at rank #9,101, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈʃtʁɛŋə].

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 12878, this pair ranks #1,961,464 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of streng vs strenge

Shared letters: egnrst. Private to "streng": -. Private to "strenge": -.

"streng" · 6 letters · shape CCCVCC  ·  "strenge" · 7 letters · shape CCCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • strengsrteng · sstreng · sterng · stregn · strengg · strenng · strneg · strreng
  • strengesrtenge · sstrenge · sternge · stregne · streneg · strengge · strennge · strnege

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "streng" and "strenge" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ʃtʁɛŋ] versus [ˈʃtʁɛŋə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "streng" or "strenge"?
"streng" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,777 in our German list, against #9,101 for "strenge". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

You've compared "streng" and "strenge". Here's where to go from here.

  • Full dictionary entry for "streng" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "strenge" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,961,464 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "streng" and "strenge" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "strenge vs Strings". 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

PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list