KönigvsKönigenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#816
“König” frequency rank
#27,819
“Königen” frequency rank
28635
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature König Königen
Definition höchster oder historisch hoher (nach dem Kaiser) monarchischer Würdenträger eines Staates, eines Königreiches; Namensbestandteil von Titelbezeichnungen Dativ Plural des Substantivs König

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set König and Königen apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
König
7 ch
Königen

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. König ([ˈkøːnɪç]) and Königen ([ˈkøːnɪɡn̩]) 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) - “König” sits inside “Königen”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 28635, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

König is recorded at frequency rank #816, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈkøːnɪç]. Königen is at rank #27,819, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈkøːnɪɡn̩].

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 28635, this pair ranks #1,781,273 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of König vs Königen

Shared letters: giknö. Private to "König": -. Private to "Königen": e.

"König" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "Königen" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC

Frequency comparison

König#816
Königen#27,819

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "König" and "Königen" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈkøːnɪç] versus [ˈkøːnɪɡn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "König" or "Königen"?
"König" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #816 in our German list, against #27,819 for "Königen". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering König vs Königen

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “König” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list