strongvsstrunzWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: strong is a adjective, strunz is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“strong” is an adjective and “strunz” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#20,073
“strong” frequency rank
#49,280
“strunz” frequency rank
69353
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature strong strunz
Definition stark 2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs strunzen

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set strong and strunz apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
strong
6 ch
strunz

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: strong is anadjective and strunzaverb. On the page they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 69353, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

strong is recorded at frequency rank #20,073, classified as anadj, pronounced […]. strunz is at rank #49,280, tagged as averb, pronounced [ʃtʁʊnt͡s].

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 69353, this pair ranks #479,179 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of strong vs strunz

Shared letters: nrst. Private to "strong": go. Private to "strunz": uz.

"strong" · 6 letters · shape CCCVCC  ·  "strunz" · 6 letters · shape CCCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • strongsrtong · sstrong · storng · strnog · strogn · strongg · stronng · strrong
  • strunzsrtunz · sstrunz · strnuz · strrunz · strunnz · strunzz · struzn · sttrunz

Frequency comparison

strong#20,073
strunz#49,280

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "strong" and "strunz" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "strong" is an adjective and "strunz" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "strong" or "strunz"?
"strong" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #20,073 in our German list, against #49,280 for "strunz". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering strong vs strunz

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “strong”; for a verb, it's “strunz”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “strong” 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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list