gültigevsgültigenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#11,666
“gültige” frequency rank
#9,038
“gültigen” frequency rank
20704
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature gültige gültigen
Definition Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs gültig Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs gültig

Where the eye mixes gültige and gültigen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. gültige runs 7 letters (CVCCVCV) against gültigen's 8 (CVCCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

7 ch
gültige
8 ch
gültigen

Visual trap between gültige and gültigen

A purely visual mix-up. gültige ([ˈɡʏltɪɡə]) and gültigen ([ˈɡʏltɪɡn̩]) 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) - “gültige” sits inside “gültigen”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 20704, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

gültige is recorded at frequency rank #11,666, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈɡʏltɪɡə]. gültigen is at rank #9,038, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈɡʏltɪɡn̩].

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 20704, this pair ranks #1,894,684 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of gültige vs gültigen

Shared letters: egiltü. Private to "gültige": -. Private to "gültigen": n.

"gültige" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV  ·  "gültigen" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "gültige" and "gültigen" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈɡʏltɪɡə] versus [ˈɡʏltɪɡn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "gültige" or "gültigen" show up more?
"gültigen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #9,038 in our German list, against #11,666 for "gültige". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "gültige" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "gültigen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,894,684 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "gültige" and "gültigen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "gültige vs gültiger". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #1,894,684 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