DefektenvsdefektesWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#24,674
“Defekten” frequency rank
#46,563
“defektes” frequency rank
71237
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Defekten defektes
Definition Dativ Plural des Substantivs Defekt Nominativ Singular Neutrum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs defekt

Where the eye mixes Defekten and defektes

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. Defekten and defektes follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

8 ch
Defekten
8 ch
defektes

Visual trap between Defekten and defektes

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Defekten is [deˈfɛktn̩] while defektes is [deˈfɛktəs]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - n in “Defekten” becomes s in “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 71237, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Defekten is recorded at frequency rank #24,674, classified as anoun, pronounced [deˈfɛktn̩]. 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 71237, this pair ranks #422,592 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of Defekten vs defektes

Shared letters: defkt. Private to "Defekten": n. Private to "defektes": s.

"Defekten" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC  ·  "defektes" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Defektenddefekten · deefkten · defeketn · defekkten · defektenn · defektne · defektten · defetken
  • defektesddefektes · deefktes · defekets · defekktes · defektess · defektse · defekttes · defetkes

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Defekten" for "defektes" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Defekten" is a noun and "defektes" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "Defekten" vs "defektes" - which ranks higher?
"Defekten" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #24,674 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 "Defekten" 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 #422,592 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Defekten" 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 #422,592 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