gegenseitigevsgegenseitigemTell them apart

Which to use

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

#12,920
“gegenseitige” frequency rank
#38,760
“gegenseitigem” frequency rank
51680
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature gegenseitige gegenseitigem
Definition Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs gegenseitig Dativ Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs gegenseitig

Where the eye mixes gegenseitige and gegenseitigem

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 12 letters in sequence. gegenseitige runs 12 letters (CVCVCCVVCVCV) against gegenseitigem's 13 (CVCVCCVVCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

12 ch
gegenseitige
13 ch
gegenseitigem

Why the eye confuses gegenseitige with gegenseitigem

A purely visual mix-up. gegenseitige ([ˈɡeːɡn̩ˌzaɪ̯tɪɡə]) and gegenseitigem ([ˈɡeːɡn̩ˌzaɪ̯tɪɡəm]) 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 1 extra letter(s) - “gegenseitige” sits inside “gegenseitigem”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 51680, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

gegenseitige is recorded at frequency rank #12,920, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈɡeːɡn̩ˌzaɪ̯tɪɡə]. gegenseitigem is at rank #38,760, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈɡeːɡn̩ˌzaɪ̯tɪɡəm].

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 51680, this pair ranks #1,126,190 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of gegenseitige vs gegenseitigem

Shared letters: eginst. Private to "gegenseitige": -. Private to "gegenseitigem": m.

"gegenseitige" · 12 letters · shape CVCVCCVVCVCV  ·  "gegenseitigem" · 13 letters · shape CVCVCCVVCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • gegenseitige ← eggenseitige · geegnseitige · gegenesitige · gegennseitige · gegenseiitge · gegenseitgie · gegenseitieg · gegenseitigge
  • gegenseitigem ← eggenseitigem · geegnseitigem · gegenesitigem · gegennseitigem · gegenseiitgem · gegenseitgiem · gegenseitiegm · gegenseitigemm

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "gegenseitige" and "gegenseitigem" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈɡeːɡn̩ˌzaɪ̯tɪɡə] versus [ˈɡeːɡn̩ˌzaɪ̯tɪɡəm]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "gegenseitige" or "gegenseitigem" show up more?
"gegenseitige" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #12,920 in our German list, against #38,760 for "gegenseitigem". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "gegenseitige" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "gegenseitigem" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,126,190 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "gegenseitige" and "gegenseitigem" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "gegenseitigem vs gegenseitiger". 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 #1,126,190 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