berufstätigvsberufstätigeWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#33,469
“berufstätig” frequency rank
#29,500
“berufstätige” frequency rank
62969
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature berufstätig berufstätige
Definition einer beruflichen Tätigkeit nachgehend Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs berufstätig

Where the eye mixes berufstätig and berufstätige

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 11 letters in sequence.

11 ch
berufstätig
12 ch
berufstätige

Why the eye confuses berufstätig with berufstätige

A purely visual mix-up. berufstätig ([bəˈʁuːfsˌtɛːtɪç]) and berufstätige ([bəˈʁuːfsˌtɛːtɪɡə]) 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) - “berufstätig” sits inside “berufstätige”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 62969, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

berufstätig is recorded at frequency rank #33,469, classified as anadj, pronounced [bəˈʁuːfsˌtɛːtɪç]. berufstätige is at rank #29,500, tagged as anadj, pronounced [bəˈʁuːfsˌtɛːtɪɡə].

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 62969, this pair ranks #693,542 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of berufstätig vs berufstätige

Shared letters: befgirstuä. Private to "berufstätig": -. Private to "berufstätige": -.

"berufstätig" · 11 letters · shape CVCVCCCVCVC  ·  "berufstätige" · 12 letters · shape CVCVCCCVCVCV

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "berufstätig" for "berufstätige" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([bəˈʁuːfsˌtɛːtɪç] versus [bəˈʁuːfsˌtɛːtɪɡə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "berufstätig" vs "berufstätige" - which ranks higher?
"berufstätige" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #29,500 in our German list, against #33,469 for "berufstätig". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "berufstätig" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "berufstätige" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #693,542 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "berufstätig" and "berufstätige" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "berufstätig vs berufstätigen". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #693,542 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