folgendvsfolgendemWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#12,282
“folgend” frequency rank
#13,603
“folgendem” frequency rank
25885
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature folgend folgendem
Definition nach etwas kommend Dativ Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs folgend

Where the eye mixes folgend and folgendem

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. folgend runs 7 letters (CVCCVCC) against folgendem's 9 (CVCCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

7 ch
folgend
9 ch
folgendem

Visual trap between folgend and folgendem

A purely visual mix-up. folgend ([ˈfɔlɡn̩t]) and folgendem ([ˈfɔlɡn̩dəm]) 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) - “folgend” sits inside “folgendem”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 25885, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

folgend is recorded at frequency rank #12,282, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈfɔlɡn̩t]. folgendem is at rank #13,603, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈfɔlɡn̩dəm].

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 25885, this pair ranks #1,826,532 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of folgend vs folgendem

Shared letters: defglno. Private to "folgend": -. Private to "folgendem": m.

"folgend" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCC  ·  "folgendem" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • folgend ← ffolgend · flogend · foglend · folegnd · folgedn · folgendd · folgennd · folggend
  • folgendem ← ffolgendem · flogendem · foglendem · folegndem · folgednem · folgenddem · folgendemm · folgendme

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "folgend" for "folgendem" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈfɔlɡn̩t] versus [ˈfɔlɡn̩dəm]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "folgend" vs "folgendem" - which ranks higher?
"folgend" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #12,282 in our German list, against #13,603 for "folgendem". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "folgend" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "folgendem" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,826,532 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "folgend" and "folgendem" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "folgend vs fragend". 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 #1,826,532 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