fallendenvsfolgendenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#28,645
“fallenden” frequency rank
#903
“folgenden” frequency rank
29548
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature fallenden folgenden
Definition Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs fallend Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Flexion des Adjektivs folgend

Where the eye mixes fallenden and folgenden

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

9 ch
fallenden
9 ch
folgenden

Visual trap between fallenden and folgenden

A purely visual mix-up. fallenden ([ˈfaləndn̩]) and folgenden ([ˈfɔlɡn̩dən]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 29548, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

fallenden is recorded at frequency rank #28,645, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈfaləndn̩]. folgenden is at rank #903, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈfɔlɡn̩dən].

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 29548, this pair ranks #1,764,787 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of fallenden vs folgenden

Shared letters: defln. Private to "fallenden": a. Private to "folgenden": go.

"fallenden" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC  ·  "folgenden" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • fallendenafllenden · falelnden · falenden · fallednen · fallendden · fallendenn · fallendne · fallenedn
  • folgendenffolgenden · flogenden · foglenden · folegnden · folgednen · folgendden · folgendenn · folgendne

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "fallenden" for "folgenden" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈfaləndn̩] versus [ˈfɔlɡn̩dən]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "fallenden" or "folgenden"?
"folgenden" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #903 in our German list, against #28,645 for "fallenden". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "fallenden" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "folgenden" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,764,787 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "fallenden" and "folgenden" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "fallenden vs fassenden". 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 #1,764,787 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