Which to use
“externe” and “externen” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #8,556
- “externe” frequency rank
- #10,276
- “externen” frequency rank
- 18832
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | externe | externen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs extern | Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs extern |
Where the eye mixes externe and externen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. externe runs 7 letters (VCCVCCV) against externen's 8 (VCCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between externe and externen
A purely visual mix-up. externe ([ˌɛksˈtɛʁnə]) and externen ([ˌɛksˈtɛʁnən]) 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 1 extra letter(s) - “externe” sits inside “externen”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 18832, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
externe is recorded at frequency rank #8,556, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˌɛksˈtɛʁnə]. externen is at rank #10,276, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˌɛksˈtɛʁnən].
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 18832, this pair ranks #1,914,481 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of externe vs externen
Shared letters: enrtx. Private to "externe": -. Private to "externen": -.
"externe" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCCV · "externen" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "externe" for "externen" ever safe?
Frequency check: "externe" vs "externen" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "externe" and "externen" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "externe" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "externen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,914,481 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "externe" and "externen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "externen vs externes". 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 #1,914,481 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.