Which to use
“giftig” and “giftigen” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #17,599
- “giftig” frequency rank
- #24,745
- “giftigen” frequency rank
- 42344
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | giftig | giftigen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | gesundheitsschädlich, schadstoffhaltig | Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs giftig |
Where the eye mixes giftig and giftigen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. giftig runs 6 letters (CVCCVC) against giftigen's 8 (CVCCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses giftig with giftigen
A purely visual mix-up. giftig ([ˈɡɪftɪç]) and giftigen ([ˈɡɪftɪɡn̩]) 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 2 extra letter(s) - “giftig” sits inside “giftigen”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 42344, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
giftig is recorded at frequency rank #17,599, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈɡɪftɪç]. giftigen is at rank #24,745, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈɡɪftɪɡn̩].
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 42344, this pair ranks #1,452,239 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of giftig vs giftigen
Shared letters: fgit. Private to "giftig": -. Private to "giftigen": en.
"giftig" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "giftigen" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "giftig" for "giftigen" ever safe?
Frequency check: "giftig" vs "giftigen" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "giftig" and "giftigen" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "giftig" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "giftigen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,452,239 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "giftig" and "giftigen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "giftigen vs giftiger". 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 #1,452,239 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.