direktenvsdirekterTell them apart

Which to use

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

#3,237
“direkten” frequency rank
#7,455
“direkter” frequency rank
10692
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature direkten direkter
Definition Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Flexion des Adjektivs direkt Nominativ Singular Maskulinum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs direkt

Where the eye mixes direkten and direkter

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

8 ch
direkten
8 ch
direkter

Visual trap between direkten and direkter

A purely visual mix-up. direkten ([diˈʁɛktn̩]) and direkter ([diˈʁɛktɐ]) 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 “direkten” becomes r in “direkter”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 10692, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

direkten is recorded at frequency rank #3,237, classified as anadj, pronounced [diˈʁɛktn̩]. direkter is at rank #7,455, tagged as anadj, pronounced [diˈʁɛktɐ].

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 10692, this pair ranks #1,973,833 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of direkten vs direkter

Shared letters: deikrt. Private to "direkten": n. Private to "direkter": -.

"direkten" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC  ·  "direkter" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • direktenddirekten · dierkten · direketn · direkkten · direktenn · direktne · direktten · diretken
  • direkterddirekter · dierkter · direketr · direkkter · direkterr · direktre · direktter · diretker

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "direkten" and "direkter" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([diˈʁɛktn̩] versus [diˈʁɛktɐ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "direkten" or "direkter"?
"direkten" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,237 in our German list, against #7,455 for "direkter". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "direkten" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "direkter" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,973,833 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "direkten" and "direkter" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Dialekten vs direkten". 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 #1,973,833 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