FestlegungvsFestlegungenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#13,820
“Festlegung” frequency rank
#45,924
“Festlegungen” frequency rank
59744
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Festlegung Festlegungen
Definition Handlung, Maßnahme, etwas genau zu bestimmen, regeln, verbindlich zu beschließen Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Festlegung

Where the eye mixes Festlegung and Festlegungen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 10 letters in sequence. Festlegung runs 10 letters (CVCCCVCVCC) against Festlegungen's 12 (CVCCCVCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

10 ch
Festlegung
12 ch
Festlegungen

Why the eye confuses Festlegung with Festlegungen

A purely visual mix-up. Festlegung ([ˈfɛstˌleːɡʊŋ]) and Festlegungen ([ˈfɛstleːɡʊŋən]) 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) - “Festlegung” sits inside “Festlegungen”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 59744, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Festlegung is recorded at frequency rank #13,820, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈfɛstˌleːɡʊŋ]. Festlegungen is at rank #45,924, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈfɛstleːɡʊŋən].

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 59744, this pair ranks #813,031 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Festlegung vs Festlegungen

Shared letters: efglnstu. Private to "Festlegung": -. Private to "Festlegungen": -.

"Festlegung" · 10 letters · shape CVCCCVCVCC  ·  "Festlegungen" · 12 letters · shape CVCCCVCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Festlegung ← efstlegung · fesltegung · fesstlegung · festelgung · festleggung · festlegnug · festlegugn · festlegungg
  • Festlegungen ← efstlegungen · fesltegungen · fesstlegungen · festelgungen · festleggungen · festlegnugen · festlegugnen · festlegunegn

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Festlegung" and "Festlegungen" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈfɛstˌleːɡʊŋ] versus [ˈfɛstleːɡʊŋən]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "Festlegung" vs "Festlegungen" - which ranks higher?
"Festlegung" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #13,820 in our German list, against #45,924 for "Festlegungen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Eye-level mix-up between "Festlegung" and "Festlegungen" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Festlegung" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Festlegungen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #813,031 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Festlegung" and "Festlegungen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "festlegen vs Festlegung". 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 #813,031 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