Which to use
“gewaltige” and “gewaltigen” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #11,887
- “gewaltige” frequency rank
- #11,442
- “gewaltigen” frequency rank
- 23329
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | gewaltige | gewaltigen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs gewaltig | Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs gewaltig |
Where the eye mixes gewaltige and gewaltigen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence. gewaltige runs 9 letters (CVCVCCVCV) against gewaltigen's 10 (CVCVCCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses gewaltige with gewaltigen
A purely visual mix-up. gewaltige ([ɡəˈvaltɪɡə]) and gewaltigen ([ɡəˈvaltɪɡn̩]) 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) - “gewaltige” sits inside “gewaltigen”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 23329, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
gewaltige is recorded at frequency rank #11,887, classified as anadj, pronounced [ɡəˈvaltɪɡə]. gewaltigen is at rank #11,442, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ɡəˈvaltɪɡn̩].
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 23329, this pair ranks #1,862,687 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of gewaltige vs gewaltigen
Shared letters: aegiltw. Private to "gewaltige": -. Private to "gewaltigen": n.
"gewaltige" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCCVCV · "gewaltigen" · 10 letters · shape CVCVCCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- gewaltige ← egwaltige · geawltige · gewalitge · gewalltige · gewaltgie · gewaltieg · gewaltigge · gewalttige
- gewaltigen ← egwaltigen · geawltigen · gewalitgen · gewalltigen · gewaltgien · gewaltiegn · gewaltigenn · gewaltiggen
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "gewaltige" for "gewaltigen" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "gewaltige" or "gewaltigen" show up more?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "gewaltige" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "gewaltigen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,862,687 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "gewaltige" and "gewaltigen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "gewaltige vs gewaltiges". 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 #1,862,687 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.