KönigevsKönigsWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#6,823
“Könige” frequency rank
#3,826
“Königs” frequency rank
10649
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Könige Königs
Definition Variante für den Dativ Singular des Substantivs König Genitiv Singular des Substantivs König

Where the eye mixes Könige and Königs

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. Könige (CVCVCV) and Königs (CVCVCC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

6 ch
Könige
6 ch
Königs

Visual trap between Könige and Königs

A purely visual mix-up. Könige ([ˈkøːnɪɡə]) and Königs ([ˈkøːnɪçs]) 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 a single letter - e in “Könige” becomes s in “Königs”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 10649, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Könige is recorded at frequency rank #6,823, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈkøːnɪɡə]. Königs is at rank #3,826, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈkøːnɪçs].

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 10649, this pair ranks #1,974,051 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Könige vs Königs

Shared letters: giknö. Private to "Könige": e. Private to "Königs": s.

"Könige" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV  ·  "Königs" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Könige" for "Königs" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈkøːnɪɡə] versus [ˈkøːnɪçs]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Könige" or "Königs"?
"Königs" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,826 in our German list, against #6,823 for "Könige". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Könige" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Königs" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,974,051 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Könige" and "Königs" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Knies vs Königs". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #1,974,051 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