dreijährigenvsdreijährigerWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#26,366
“dreijährigen” frequency rank
#39,894
“dreijähriger” frequency rank
66260
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature dreijährigen dreijähriger
Definition Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs dreijährig Nominativ Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs dreijährig

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set dreijährigen and dreijähriger apart are highlighted. They share 11 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

12 ch
dreijährigen
12 ch
dreijähriger

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. dreijährigen ([ˈdʁaɪ̯ˌjɛːʁɪɡn̩]) and dreijähriger ([ˈdʁaɪ̯ˌjɛːʁɪɡɐ]) 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 “dreijährigen” becomes r in “dreijähriger”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 66260, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

dreijährigen is recorded at frequency rank #26,366, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈdʁaɪ̯ˌjɛːʁɪɡn̩]. dreijähriger is at rank #39,894, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈdʁaɪ̯ˌjɛːʁɪɡɐ].

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 66260, this pair ranks #579,163 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of dreijährigen vs dreijähriger

Shared letters: deghijrä. Private to "dreijährigen": n. Private to "dreijähriger": -.

"dreijährigen" · 12 letters · shape CCVVCVCCVCVC  ·  "dreijähriger" · 12 letters · shape CCVVCVCCVCVC

Frequency comparison

dreijährigen#26,366
dreijähriger#39,894

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "dreijährigen" and "dreijähriger" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈdʁaɪ̯ˌjɛːʁɪɡn̩] versus [ˈdʁaɪ̯ˌjɛːʁɪɡɐ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "dreijährigen" or "dreijähriger"?
"dreijährigen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #26,366 in our German list, against #39,894 for "dreijähriger". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering dreijährigen vs dreijähriger

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “dreijährigen” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list