DefektevsdefektesWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: Defekte is a noun, defektes is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Defekte” is a noun and “defektes” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#17,554
“Defekte” frequency rank
#46,563
“defektes” frequency rank
64117
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Defekte defektes
Definition Variante für den Dativ Singular des Substantivs Defekt Nominativ Singular Neutrum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs defekt

Where the eye mixes Defekte and defektes

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. Defekte runs 7 letters (CVCVCCV) against defektes's 8 (CVCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

7 ch
Defekte
8 ch
defektes

Visual trap between Defekte and defektes

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Defekte is [deˈfɛktə] while defektes is [deˈfɛktəs]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “Defekte” sits inside “defektes”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 64117, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Defekte is recorded at frequency rank #17,554, classified as anoun, pronounced [deˈfɛktə]. defektes is at rank #46,563, tagged as anadj, pronounced [deˈfɛktəs].

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 64117, this pair ranks #652,850 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Defekte vs defektes

Shared letters: defkt. Private to "Defekte": -. Private to "defektes": s.

"Defekte" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCV  ·  "defektes" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Defekteddefekte · deefkte · defeket · defekkte · defektte · defetke · deffekte · defkete
  • defektesddefektes · deefktes · defekets · defekktes · defektess · defektse · defekttes · defetkes

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Defekte" and "defektes" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Defekte" is a noun and "defektes" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "Defekte" or "defektes" show up more?
"Defekte" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #17,554 in our German list, against #46,563 for "defektes". 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 "Defekte" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "defektes" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #652,850 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Defekte" and "defektes" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "defektes vs Detektei". 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 #652,850 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