gegenseitigemvsgegenseitigerWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#38,760
“gegenseitigem” frequency rank
#33,070
“gegenseitiger” frequency rank
71830
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

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

Where the eye mixes gegenseitigem and gegenseitiger

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 12 letters in sequence. gegenseitigem and gegenseitiger follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVCCVVCVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

13 ch
gegenseitigem
13 ch
gegenseitiger

Visual trap between gegenseitigem and gegenseitiger

A purely visual mix-up. gegenseitigem ([ˈɡeːɡn̩ˌzaɪ̯tɪɡəm]) and gegenseitiger ([ˈɡeːɡn̩ˌzaɪ̯tɪɡɐ]) 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 “gegenseitigem” becomes r in “gegenseitiger”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 71830, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

gegenseitigem is recorded at frequency rank #38,760, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈɡeːɡn̩ˌzaɪ̯tɪɡəm]. gegenseitiger is at rank #33,070, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈɡeːɡn̩ˌzaɪ̯tɪɡɐ].

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 71830, this pair ranks #405,617 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of gegenseitigem vs gegenseitiger

Shared letters: eginst. Private to "gegenseitigem": m. Private to "gegenseitiger": r.

"gegenseitigem" · 13 letters · shape CVCVCCVVCVCVC  ·  "gegenseitiger" · 13 letters · shape CVCVCCVVCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • gegenseitigem ← eggenseitigem · geegnseitigem · gegenesitigem · gegennseitigem · gegenseiitgem · gegenseitgiem · gegenseitiegm · gegenseitigemm
  • gegenseitiger ← eggenseitiger · geegnseitiger · gegenesitiger · gegennseitiger · gegenseiitger · gegenseitgier · gegenseitiegr · gegenseitigerr

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "gegenseitigem" and "gegenseitiger" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈɡeːɡn̩ˌzaɪ̯tɪɡəm] versus [ˈɡeːɡn̩ˌzaɪ̯tɪɡɐ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "gegenseitigem" or "gegenseitiger"?
"gegenseitiger" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #33,070 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.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "gegenseitigem" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "gegenseitiger" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #405,617 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "gegenseitigem" and "gegenseitiger" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "gegenseitigem vs gegenseitiges". 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 #405,617 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