Which to use
“heftig” and “heftiger” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #3,660
- “heftig” frequency rank
- #11,450
- “heftiger” frequency rank
- 15110
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | heftig | heftiger |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | mit großer Intensität; sehr stark | Nominativ Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs heftig |
Where the eye mixes heftig and heftiger
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. heftig runs 6 letters (CVCCVC) against heftiger's 8 (CVCCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: heftig vs heftiger
A purely visual mix-up. heftig ([ˈhɛftɪç]) and heftiger ([ˈhɛftɪɡɐ]) 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) - “heftig” sits inside “heftiger”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 15110, 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]. heftiger is at rank #11,450, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈhɛftɪɡɐ].
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 15110, this pair ranks #1,946,308 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of heftig vs heftiger
Shared letters: efghit. Private to "heftig": -. Private to "heftiger": r.
"heftig" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "heftiger" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "heftig" and "heftiger" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "heftig" or "heftiger"?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "heftig" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "heftiger" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,946,308 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "heftig" and "heftiger" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "heftigem vs heftiger". 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 #1,946,308 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.