Which to use
“heilig” is an adjective and “heiligen” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #8,075
- “heilig” frequency rank
- #1,971
- “heiligen” frequency rank
- 10046
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | heilig | heiligen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | göttlich, verehrenswürdig, sehr fromm, geweiht | jemanden oder etwas heilig machen, weihen |
Where the eye mixes heilig and heiligen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. heilig runs 6 letters (CVVCVC) against heiligen's 8 (CVVCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between heilig and heiligen
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: heilig is [ˈhaɪ̯lɪç] while heiligen is [ˈhaɪ̯lɪɡn̩]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “heilig” sits inside “heiligen”, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 10046, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
heilig is recorded at frequency rank #8,075, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈhaɪ̯lɪç]. heiligen is at rank #1,971, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈhaɪ̯lɪɡn̩].
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 10046, this pair ranks #1,977,043 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of heilig vs heiligen
Shared letters: eghil. Private to "heilig": -. Private to "heiligen": n.
"heilig" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC · "heiligen" · 8 letters · shape CVVCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "heilig" and "heiligen" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "heilig" vs "heiligen" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "heilig" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "heiligen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,977,043 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "heilig" and "heiligen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "heiligen vs heurigen". 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 #1,977,043 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.