alleinigevsalleinigerWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#14,231
“alleinige” frequency rank
#27,180
“alleiniger” frequency rank
41411
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature alleinige alleiniger
Definition Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs alleinig Nominativ Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs alleinig

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set alleinige and alleiniger apart are highlighted. They share 9 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

9 ch
alleinige
10 ch
alleiniger

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. alleinige ([aˈlaɪ̯nɪɡə]) and alleiniger ([aˈlaɪ̯nɪɡɐ]) 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) - “alleinige” sits inside “alleiniger”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 41411, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

alleinige is recorded at frequency rank #14,231, classified as anadj, pronounced [aˈlaɪ̯nɪɡə]. alleiniger is at rank #27,180, tagged as anadj, pronounced [aˈlaɪ̯nɪɡɐ].

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 41411, this pair ranks #1,480,253 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of alleinige vs alleiniger

Shared letters: aegiln. Private to "alleinige": -. Private to "alleiniger": r.

"alleinige" · 9 letters · shape VCCVVCVCV  ·  "alleiniger" · 10 letters · shape VCCVVCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • alleinigealeinige · alelinige · alleiinge · alleingie · alleinieg · alleinigge · alleinnige · alleniige
  • alleinigeraleiniger · aleliniger · alleiinger · alleingier · alleiniegr · alleinigerr · alleinigger · alleinigre

Frequency comparison

alleinige#14,231
alleiniger#27,180

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "alleinige" and "alleiniger" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([aˈlaɪ̯nɪɡə] versus [aˈlaɪ̯nɪɡɐ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "alleinige" or "alleiniger"?
"alleinige" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #14,231 in our German list, against #27,180 for "alleiniger". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering alleinige vs alleiniger

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 “alleinige” 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