commonality
Loading your saved state.
commonality
A feature, characteristic, or interest that two or more people or things share.
Trotz ihrer unterschiedlichen Herkunft fanden sie schnell viele Gemeinsamkeiten.
Despite their different backgrounds, they quickly found many commonalities.
The word is made up of the adjective 'gemeinsam' (common/shared) and the ending '-keit'. This ending forms feminine nouns from adjectives and describes a quality or state.
Die Gemeinsamkeit ihrer Interessen machte sie zu guten Freunden.
The commonality of their interests made them good friends.
'Gemeinsamkeit' (commonality) is very often used with the verbs 'haben' (to have), 'finden' (to find), and 'entdecken' (to discover). People often say that people or things 'Gemeinsamkeiten haben' (have commonalities).
Wir haben schnell eine Gemeinsamkeit entdeckt: Wir lieben beide die Berge.
We quickly discovered a commonality: we both love the mountains.
To express who or what has something in common, the preposition 'zwischen' (between) with the dative is often used. The structure is: 'die Gemeinsamkeit zwischen [A] und [B]' (the commonality between [A] and [B]).
Die größte Gemeinsamkeit zwischen den Geschwistern ist ihre laute Lache.
The biggest commonality between the siblings is their loud laugh.
difference
'der Unterschied' and 'die Gemeinsamkeit' are both used when comparing people, things, or situations. 'der Unterschied' shows what is not the same. 'die Gemeinsamkeit' shows what is the same or shared. Learners may confuse the words because both often appear in comparisons. A useful rule is: with 'anders' (different), 'Unterschied' fits; with 'gleich' (same) or 'gemeinsam' (shared), 'Gemeinsamkeit' fits.
Im Gespräch haben die Schwestern viele Gemeinsamkeiten entdeckt.
In the conversation, the sisters discovered many things they had in common.
Für die Prüfung musst du den Unterschied zwischen den beiden Maschinen kennen.
For the exam, you need to know the difference between the two machines.