erfolgreichenvserfolgreichstenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#3,812
“erfolgreichen” frequency rank
#10,267
“erfolgreichsten” frequency rank
14079
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature erfolgreichen erfolgreichsten
Definition Genitiv Singular Maskulinum Positiv der starken Flexion des Adjektivs erfolgreich Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Flexion des Superlativs des Adjektivs erfolgreich

Where the eye mixes erfolgreichen and erfolgreichsten

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 13 letters in sequence. erfolgreichen runs 13 letters (VCCVCCCVVCCVC) against erfolgreichsten's 15 (VCCVCCCVVCCCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

13 ch
erfolgreichen
15 ch
erfolgreichsten

Visual trap between erfolgreichen and erfolgreichsten

A purely visual mix-up. erfolgreichen ([ɛɐ̯ˈfɔlkʁaɪ̯çn̩]) and erfolgreichsten ([ɛɐ̯ˈfɔlkʁaɪ̯çstn̩]) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 14079, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

erfolgreichen is recorded at frequency rank #3,812, classified as anadj, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈfɔlkʁaɪ̯çn̩]. erfolgreichsten is at rank #10,267, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈfɔlkʁaɪ̯çstn̩].

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 14079, this pair ranks #1,953,696 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of erfolgreichen vs erfolgreichsten

Shared letters: cefghilnor. Private to "erfolgreichen": -. Private to "erfolgreichsten": st.

"erfolgreichen" · 13 letters · shape VCCVCCCVVCCVC  ·  "erfolgreichsten" · 15 letters · shape VCCVCCCVVCCCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • erfolgreichen ← efrolgreichen · erffolgreichen · erflogreichen · erfoglreichen · erfolgerichen · erfolggreichen · erfolgrecihen · erfolgreicchen
  • erfolgreichsten ← efrolgreichsten · erffolgreichsten · erflogreichsten · erfoglreichsten · erfolgerichsten · erfolggreichsten · erfolgrecihsten · erfolgreicchsten

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "erfolgreichen" for "erfolgreichsten" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ɛɐ̯ˈfɔlkʁaɪ̯çn̩] versus [ɛɐ̯ˈfɔlkʁaɪ̯çstn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "erfolgreichen" or "erfolgreichsten" show up more?
"erfolgreichen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,812 in our German list, against #10,267 for "erfolgreichsten". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "erfolgreichen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "erfolgreichsten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,953,696 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "erfolgreichen" and "erfolgreichsten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "erfolgreichsten vs erfolgreichster". 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 #1,953,696 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