beliebigvsbeliebigenWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#8,837
“beliebig” frequency rank
#10,050
“beliebigen” frequency rank
18887
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature beliebig beliebigen
Definition frei aus vorhandenen Möglichkeiten auswählbar oder nach eigenem Gutdünken bei etwas vorgehend Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs beliebig

Where the eye mixes beliebig and beliebigen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. beliebig runs 8 letters (CVCVVCVC) against beliebigen's 10 (CVCVVCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

8 ch
beliebig
10 ch
beliebigen

Why the eye confuses beliebig with beliebigen

A purely visual mix-up. beliebig ([bəˈliːbɪç]) and beliebigen ([bəˈliːbɪɡn̩]) 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 2 extra letter(s) - “beliebig” sits inside “beliebigen”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 18887, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

beliebig is recorded at frequency rank #8,837, classified as anadj, pronounced [bəˈliːbɪç]. beliebigen is at rank #10,050, tagged as anadj, pronounced [bəˈliːbɪɡn̩].

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 18887, this pair ranks #1,913,866 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of beliebig vs beliebigen

Shared letters: begil. Private to "beliebig": -. Private to "beliebigen": n.

"beliebig" · 8 letters · shape CVCVVCVC  ·  "beliebigen" · 10 letters · shape CVCVVCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • beliebig ← bbeliebig · beilebig · beleibig · belibeig · beliebbig · beliebgi · beliebigg · belieibg
  • beliebigen ← bbeliebigen · beilebigen · beleibigen · belibeigen · beliebbigen · beliebgien · beliebiegn · beliebigenn

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "beliebig" for "beliebigen" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([bəˈliːbɪç] versus [bəˈliːbɪɡn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "beliebig" or "beliebigen"?
"beliebig" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,837 in our German list, against #10,050 for "beliebigen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "beliebig" and "beliebigen" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "beliebig" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "beliebigen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,913,866 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "beliebig" and "beliebigen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "begierig vs beliebig". 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

Confusion rank #1,913,866 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list