folgendemvsfolgenderTell them apart

Which to use

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

#13,603
“folgendem” frequency rank
#6,184
“folgender” frequency rank
19787
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature folgendem folgender
Definition Dativ Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs folgend Nominativ Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs folgend

Where the eye mixes folgendem and folgender

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. folgendem and folgender follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

9 ch
folgendem
9 ch
folgender

Why the eye confuses folgendem with folgender

A purely visual mix-up. folgendem ([ˈfɔlɡn̩dəm]) 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 a single letter - m in “folgendem” becomes r in “folgender”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 19787, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

folgendem is recorded at frequency rank #13,603, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈfɔlɡn̩dəm]. 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 19787, this pair ranks #1,904,602 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of folgendem vs folgender

Shared letters: defglno. Private to "folgendem": m. Private to "folgender": r.

"folgendem" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC  ·  "folgender" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • folgendem ← ffolgendem · flogendem · foglendem · folegndem · folgednem · folgenddem · folgendemm · folgendme
  • folgender ← ffolgender · flogender · foglender · folegnder · folgedner · folgendder · folgenderr · folgendre

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "folgendem" for "folgender" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈfɔlɡn̩dəm] versus [ˈfɔlɡn̩dɐ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "folgendem" or "folgender" show up more?
"folgender" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,184 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 "folgendem" 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 #1,904,602 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "folgendem" and "folgender" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "folgend vs folgendem". 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 #1,904,602 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