FünfjährigevsfünfjährigenWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: Fünfjährige is a noun, fünfjährigen is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Fünfjährige” is a noun and “fünfjährigen” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#41,827
“Fünfjährige” frequency rank
#34,670
“fünfjährigen” frequency rank
76497
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Fünfjährige fünfjährigen
Definition Mädchen im Alter von fünf Jahren Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs fünfjährig

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set Fünfjährige and fünfjährigen apart are highlighted. They share 11 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

11 ch
Fünfjährige
12 ch
fünfjährigen

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Fünfjährige is [ˈfʏnfˌjɛːʁɪɡə] while fünfjährigen is [ˈfʏnfˌjɛːʁɪɡn̩]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “Fünfjährige” sits inside “fünfjährigen”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 76497, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Fünfjährige is recorded at frequency rank #41,827, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈfʏnfˌjɛːʁɪɡə]. fünfjährigen is at rank #34,670, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈfʏnfˌjɛːʁɪɡn̩].

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 76497, this pair ranks #282,542 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of Fünfjährige vs fünfjährigen

Shared letters: efghijnräü. Private to "Fünfjährige": -. Private to "fünfjährigen": -.

"Fünfjährige" · 11 letters · shape CVCCCVCCVCV  ·  "fünfjährigen" · 12 letters · shape CVCCCVCCVCVC

Frequency comparison

Fünfjährige#41,827
fünfjährigen#34,670

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Fünfjährige" and "fünfjährigen" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Fünfjährige" is a noun and "fünfjährigen" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Fünfjährige" or "fünfjährigen"?
"fünfjährigen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #34,670 in our German list, against #41,827 for "Fünfjährige". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering Fünfjährige vs fünfjährigen

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “Fünfjährige”; for an adjective, it's “fünfjährigen”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “Fünfjährige” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list