folgendvsfolgenderTell them apart

Which to use

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

#12,282
“folgend” frequency rank
#6,184
“folgender” frequency rank
18466
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature folgend folgender
Definition nach etwas kommend Nominativ Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs folgend

Where the eye mixes folgend and folgender

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

7 ch
folgend
9 ch
folgender

Why the eye confuses folgend with folgender

A purely visual mix-up. folgend ([ˈfɔlɡn̩t]) and folgender ([ˈfɔlɡn̩dɐ]) 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 “folgender”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 18466, 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]. folgender is at rank #6,184, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈfɔlɡn̩dɐ].

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 18466, this pair ranks #1,917,958 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of folgend vs folgender

Shared letters: defglno. Private to "folgend": -. Private to "folgender": r.

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

Known mistypes of this pair

  • folgend ← ffolgend · flogend · foglend · folegnd · folgedn · folgendd · folgennd · folggend
  • folgender ← ffolgender · flogender · foglender · folegnder · folgedner · folgendder · folgenderr · folgendre

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "folgend" for "folgender" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈfɔlɡn̩t] versus [ˈfɔlɡn̩dɐ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "folgend" vs "folgender" - which ranks higher?
"folgender" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,184 in our German list, against #12,282 for "folgend". 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 "folgender" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,917,958 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "folgend" and "folgender" 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 #1,917,958 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