billigvsbilligeWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#4,251
“billig” frequency rank
#8,841
“billige” frequency rank
13092
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature billig billige
Definition angemessen (recht und billig) Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs billig

Where the eye mixes billig and billige

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. billig runs 6 letters (CVCCVC) against billige's 7 (CVCCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
billig
7 ch
billige

Visual trap between billig and billige

A purely visual mix-up. billig ([ˈbɪlɪç]) and billige ([ˈbɪlɪɡə]) 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) - “billig” sits inside “billige”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 13092, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

billig is recorded at frequency rank #4,251, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈbɪlɪç]. billige is at rank #8,841, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈbɪlɪɡə].

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 13092, this pair ranks #1,960,172 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of billig vs billige

Shared letters: bgil. Private to "billig": -. Private to "billige": e.

"billig" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "billige" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • billig ← bbillig · bilig · bililg · billgi · billigg · blilig · ibllig
  • billige ← bbillige · bilige · bililge · billgie · billieg · billigge · blilige · ibllige

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "billig" for "billige" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈbɪlɪç] versus [ˈbɪlɪɡə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "billig" or "billige"?
"billig" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,251 in our German list, against #8,841 for "billige". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "billig" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "billige" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,960,172 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "billig" and "billige" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "billige vs billigte". 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 #1,960,172 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