KöniginvsKönigsWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#2,837
“Königin” frequency rank
#3,826
“Königs” frequency rank
6663
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Königin Königs
Definition nach der Kaiserin höchste monarchische Würdenträgerin eines Staates (Königreichs) Genitiv Singular des Substantivs König

Where the eye mixes Königin and Königs

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. Königin 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
Königin
6 ch
Königs

Visual trap between Königin and Königs

A purely visual mix-up. Königin ([ˈkøːnɪɡɪn]) 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 6663, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Königin is recorded at frequency rank #2,837, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈkøːnɪɡɪn]. 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 6663, this pair ranks #1,990,863 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Königin vs Königs

Shared letters: giknö. Private to "Königin": -. Private to "Königs": s.

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

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Königin" for "Königs" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈkøːnɪɡɪn] versus [ˈkøːnɪçs]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "Königin" vs "Königs" - which ranks higher?
"Königin" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,837 in our German list, against #3,826 for "Königs". 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 "Königin" and "Königs" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Königin" 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 #1,990,863 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Königin" and "Königs" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Knies vs Königs". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #1,990,863 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