Which to use
“ehemaligen” and “ehemaliger” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #1,589
- “ehemaligen” frequency rank
- #5,256
- “ehemaliger” frequency rank
- 6845
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | ehemaligen | ehemaliger |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Flexion des Adjektivs ehemalig | Nominativ Singular Maskulinum Positiv der starken Flexion des Adjektivs ehemalig |
Where the eye mixes ehemaligen and ehemaliger
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses ehemaligen with ehemaliger
A purely visual mix-up. ehemaligen ([ˈeːəˌmaːlɪɡn̩]) and ehemaliger ([ˈeːəˌmaːlɪɡɐ]) 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 “ehemaligen” becomes r in “ehemaliger”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 6845, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
ehemaligen is recorded at frequency rank #1,589, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈeːəˌmaːlɪɡn̩]. ehemaliger is at rank #5,256, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈeːəˌmaːlɪɡɐ].
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 6845, this pair ranks #1,990,270 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of ehemaligen vs ehemaliger
Shared letters: aeghilm. Private to "ehemaligen": n. Private to "ehemaliger": r.
"ehemaligen" · 10 letters · shape VCVCVCVCVC · "ehemaliger" · 10 letters · shape VCVCVCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- ehemaligen ← eehmaligen · eheamligen · ehemailgen · ehemalgien · ehemaliegn · ehemaligenn · ehemaliggen · ehemaligne
- ehemaliger ← eehmaliger · eheamliger · ehemailger · ehemalgier · ehemaliegr · ehemaligerr · ehemaligger · ehemaligre
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "ehemaligen" for "ehemaliger" ever safe?
Which is more common, "ehemaligen" or "ehemaliger"?
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 "ehemaligen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "ehemaliger" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,990,270 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "ehemaligen" and "ehemaliger" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ehemaliger vs einmaliger". 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 #1,990,270 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.