KönigenvsKönigsTell them apart

Which to use

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

#27,819
“Königen” frequency rank
#3,826
“Königs” frequency rank
31645
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Königen Königs
Definition Dativ Plural des Substantivs König Genitiv Singular des Substantivs König

Where the eye mixes Königen and Königs

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. Königen runs 7 letters (CVCVCVC) against Königs's 6 (CVCVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

7 ch
Königen
6 ch
Königs

Look-alike desk: Königen vs Königs

A purely visual mix-up. Königen ([ˈkøːnɪɡn̩]) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 31645, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Königen is recorded at frequency rank #27,819, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈkøːnɪɡn̩]. 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 31645, this pair ranks #1,723,984 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Königen vs Königs

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

"Königen" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC  ·  "Königs" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Königen" for "Königs" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈkøːnɪɡn̩] versus [ˈkøːnɪçs]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "Königen" vs "Königs" - which ranks higher?
"Königs" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,826 in our German list, against #27,819 for "Königen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Königen" 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 #1,723,984 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Königen" and "Königs" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Knies vs Königs". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #1,723,984 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