denjenigenvsderjenigenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#9,523
“denjenigen” frequency rank
#12,689
“derjenigen” frequency rank
22212
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature denjenigen derjenigen
Definition Akkusativ Singular Maskulin des Demonstrativpronomens derjenige Genitiv Singular Feminin des Demonstrativpronomens derjenige.

Where the eye mixes denjenigen and derjenigen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence. denjenigen and derjenigen follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVCVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

10 ch
denjenigen
10 ch
derjenigen

Look-alike desk: denjenigen vs derjenigen

A purely visual mix-up. denjenigen ([ˈdeːnˌjeːnɪɡn̩]) and derjenigen ([ˈdeːɐ̯ˌjeːnɪɡn̩]) 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 a single letter - n in “denjenigen” becomes r in “derjenigen”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 22212, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

denjenigen is recorded at frequency rank #9,523, classified as adet, pronounced [ˈdeːnˌjeːnɪɡn̩]. derjenigen is at rank #12,689, tagged as adet, pronounced [ˈdeːɐ̯ˌjeːnɪɡn̩].

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 22212, this pair ranks #1,876,930 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of denjenigen vs derjenigen

Shared letters: degijn. Private to "denjenigen": -. Private to "derjenigen": r.

"denjenigen" · 10 letters · shape CVCCVCVCVC  ·  "derjenigen" · 10 letters · shape CVCCVCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • denjenigen ← ddenjenigen · dejnenigen · denejnigen · denjeingen · denjengien · denjeniegn · denjenigenn · denjeniggen
  • derjenigen ← dderjenigen · dejrenigen · derejnigen · derjeingen · derjengien · derjeniegn · derjenigenn · derjeniggen

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "denjenigen" for "derjenigen" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈdeːnˌjeːnɪɡn̩] versus [ˈdeːɐ̯ˌjeːnɪɡn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "denjenigen" vs "derjenigen" - which ranks higher?
"denjenigen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #9,523 in our German list, against #12,689 for "derjenigen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "denjenigen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "derjenigen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,876,930 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "denjenigen" and "derjenigen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "demjenigen vs derjenigen". 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 #1,876,930 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