Which to use
“heftig” and “heftige” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #3,660
- “heftig” frequency rank
- #8,389
- “heftige” frequency rank
- 12049
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | heftig | heftige |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | mit großer Intensität; sehr stark | Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs heftig |
Where the eye mixes heftig and heftige
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. heftig runs 6 letters (CVCCVC) against heftige's 7 (CVCCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between heftig and heftige
A purely visual mix-up. heftig ([ˈhɛftɪç]) and heftige ([ˈhɛftɪɡə]) 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) - “heftig” sits inside “heftige”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 12049, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
heftig is recorded at frequency rank #3,660, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈhɛftɪç]. heftige is at rank #8,389, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈhɛftɪɡə].
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 12049, this pair ranks #1,966,477 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of heftig vs heftige
Shared letters: efghit. Private to "heftig": -. Private to "heftige": -.
"heftig" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "heftige" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "heftig" and "heftige" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "heftig" or "heftige"?
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 "heftig" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "heftige" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,966,477 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "heftig" and "heftige" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "heftige vs heftigem". 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 #1,966,477 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.