gegenteiligevsgegenteiligenTell them apart

Which to use

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

#42,515
“gegenteilige” frequency rank
#45,961
“gegenteiligen” frequency rank
88476
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature gegenteilige gegenteiligen
Definition Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs gegenteilig Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs gegenteilig

Where the eye mixes gegenteilige and gegenteiligen

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

12 ch
gegenteilige
13 ch
gegenteiligen

Visual trap between gegenteilige and gegenteiligen

A purely visual mix-up. gegenteilige ([ˈɡeːɡn̩ˌtaɪ̯lɪɡə]) and gegenteiligen ([ˈɡeːɡn̩ˌtaɪ̯lɪɡn̩]) 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) - “gegenteilige” sits inside “gegenteiligen”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 88476, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

gegenteilige is recorded at frequency rank #42,515, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈɡeːɡn̩ˌtaɪ̯lɪɡə]. gegenteiligen is at rank #45,961, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈɡeːɡn̩ˌtaɪ̯lɪɡn̩].

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 88476, this pair ranks #67,929 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of gegenteilige vs gegenteiligen

Shared letters: egilnt. Private to "gegenteilige": -. Private to "gegenteiligen": -.

"gegenteilige" · 12 letters · shape CVCVCCVVCVCV  ·  "gegenteiligen" · 13 letters · shape CVCVCCVVCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • gegenteilige ← eggenteilige · geegnteilige · gegenetilige · gegennteilige · gegenteiilge · gegenteilgie · gegenteilieg · gegenteiligge
  • gegenteiligen ← eggenteiligen · geegnteiligen · gegenetiligen · gegennteiligen · gegenteiilgen · gegenteilgien · gegenteiliegn · gegenteiligenn

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "gegenteilige" and "gegenteiligen" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈɡeːɡn̩ˌtaɪ̯lɪɡə] versus [ˈɡeːɡn̩ˌtaɪ̯lɪɡn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "gegenteilige" or "gegenteiligen"?
"gegenteilige" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #42,515 in our German list, against #45,961 for "gegenteiligen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "gegenteilige" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "gegenteiligen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #67,929 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "gegenteilige" and "gegenteiligen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "gegenseitigen vs gegenteiligen". 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 #67,929 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