Which to use
“giftige” and “giftigen” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #22,359
- “giftige” frequency rank
- #24,745
- “giftigen” frequency rank
- 47104
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | giftige | giftigen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Nominativ Singular Femininum Positiv der starken Flexion des Adjektivs giftig | Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs giftig |
Where the eye mixes giftige and giftigen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. giftige runs 7 letters (CVCCVCV) 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 giftige with giftigen
A purely visual mix-up. giftige ([ˈɡɪftɪɡə]) 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 1 extra letter(s) - “giftige” sits inside “giftigen”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 47104, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
giftige is recorded at frequency rank #22,359, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈɡɪftɪɡə]. 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 47104, this pair ranks #1,296,043 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of giftige vs giftigen
Shared letters: efgit. Private to "giftige": -. Private to "giftigen": n.
"giftige" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV · "giftigen" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "giftige" and "giftigen" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "giftige" or "giftigen"?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "giftige" 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 #1,296,043 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "giftige" 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 #1,296,043 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.