Which to use
“festlegen” and “festzulegen” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #9,717
- “festlegen” frequency rank
- #17,576
- “festzulegen” frequency rank
- 27293
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | festlegen | festzulegen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | einen verbindlichen Beschluss fassen, eine verbindliche Entscheidung treffen; durch verbindliche Regeln, Vorschriften bestimmen, verordnen; verbindlich festsetzen | erweiterter Infinitiv Aktiv des Verbs festlegen |
Where the eye mixes festlegen and festzulegen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence. festlegen runs 9 letters (CVCCCVCVC) against festzulegen's 11 (CVCCCVCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between festlegen and festzulegen
A purely visual mix-up. festlegen ([ˈfɛstˌleːɡn̩]) and festzulegen ([ˈfɛstt͡suˌleːɡn̩]) 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 27293, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
festlegen is recorded at frequency rank #9,717, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈfɛstˌleːɡn̩]. festzulegen is at rank #17,576, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈfɛstt͡suˌleːɡn̩].
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 27293, this pair ranks #1,804,136 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of festlegen vs festzulegen
Shared letters: efglnst. Private to "festlegen": -. Private to "festzulegen": uz.
"festlegen" · 9 letters · shape CVCCCVCVC · "festzulegen" · 11 letters · shape CVCCCVCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- festlegen ← efstlegen · fesltegen · fesstlegen · festelgen · festleegn · festlegenn · festleggen · festlegne
- festzulegen ← efstzulegen · fesstzulegen · festtzulegen · festuzlegen · festzluegen · festzuelgen · festzuleegn · festzulegenn
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "festlegen" and "festzulegen" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "festlegen" or "festzulegen"?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "festlegen" and "festzulegen" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "festlegen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "festzulegen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,804,136 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "festlegen" and "festzulegen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "festlegen vs festlegt". 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 #1,804,136 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.