kräftigvskräftigeWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#4,807
“kräftig” frequency rank
#12,957
“kräftige” frequency rank
17764
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature kräftig kräftige
Definition mit Kraft ausgestattet, von Kraft geprägt, zeugend Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs kräftig

Where the eye mixes kräftig and kräftige

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. kräftig runs 7 letters (CCVCCVC) against kräftige's 8 (CCVCCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

7 ch
kräftig
8 ch
kräftige

Look-alike desk: kräftig vs kräftige

A purely visual mix-up. kräftig ([ˈkʁɛftɪç]) and kräftige ([ˈkʁɛftɪɡə]) 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 extra letter(s) - “kräftig” sits inside “kräftige”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 17764, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

kräftig is recorded at frequency rank #4,807, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈkʁɛftɪç]. kräftige is at rank #12,957, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈkʁɛftɪɡə].

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 17764, this pair ranks #1,924,506 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of kräftig vs kräftige

Shared letters: fgikrtä. Private to "kräftig": -. Private to "kräftige": e.

"kräftig" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC  ·  "kräftige" · 8 letters · shape CCVCCVCV

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "kräftig" and "kräftige" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈkʁɛftɪç] versus [ˈkʁɛftɪɡə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "kräftig" or "kräftige" show up more?
"kräftig" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,807 in our German list, against #12,957 for "kräftige". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "kräftig" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "kräftige" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,924,506 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "kräftig" and "kräftige" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "kantig vs kräftig". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #1,924,506 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