farbigvsfarbigenTell them apart

Which to use

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

#20,245
“farbig” frequency rank
#13,598
“farbigen” frequency rank
33843
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature farbig farbigen
Definition mit einer oder mehreren Farben versehen; nicht schwarz, weiß oder grau Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs farbig

Where the eye mixes farbig and farbigen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.

6 ch
farbig
8 ch
farbigen

Look-alike desk: farbig vs farbigen

A purely visual mix-up. farbig ([ˈfaʁbɪç]) and farbigen ([ˈfaʁbɪɡn̩]) 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 extra letter(s) - “farbig” sits inside “farbigen”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 33843, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

farbig is recorded at frequency rank #20,245, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈfaʁbɪç]. farbigen is at rank #13,598, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈfaʁbɪɡn̩].

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 33843, this pair ranks #1,676,834 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of farbig vs farbigen

Shared letters: abfgir. Private to "farbig": -. Private to "farbigen": en.

"farbig" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "farbigen" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • farbigafrbig · fabrig · farbbig · farbgi · farbigg · faribg · farrbig · ffarbig
  • farbigenafrbigen · fabrigen · farbbigen · farbgien · farbiegn · farbigenn · farbiggen · farbigne

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "farbig" and "farbigen" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈfaʁbɪç] versus [ˈfaʁbɪɡn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "farbig" or "farbigen"?
"farbigen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #13,598 in our German list, against #20,245 for "farbig". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "farbig" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "farbigen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,676,834 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "farbig" and "farbigen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Färber vs farbig". 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 #1,676,834 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