kriminellenvskriminellesWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#7,954
“kriminellen” frequency rank
#47,544
“kriminelles” frequency rank
55498
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature kriminellen kriminelles
Definition Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs kriminell Nominativ Singular Neutrum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs kriminell

Where the eye mixes kriminellen and kriminelles

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 10 letters in sequence. kriminellen and kriminelles follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CCVCVCVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

11 ch
kriminellen
11 ch
kriminelles

Why the eye confuses kriminellen with kriminelles

A purely visual mix-up. kriminellen ([kʁimiˈnɛlən]) and kriminelles ([kʁimiˈnɛləs]) 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 - n in “kriminellen” becomes s in “kriminelles”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 55498, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

kriminellen is recorded at frequency rank #7,954, classified as anadj, pronounced [kʁimiˈnɛlən]. kriminelles is at rank #47,544, tagged as anadj, pronounced [kʁimiˈnɛləs].

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 55498, this pair ranks #977,205 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of kriminellen vs kriminelles

Shared letters: eiklmnr. Private to "kriminellen": -. Private to "kriminelles": s.

"kriminellen" · 11 letters · shape CCVCVCVCCVC  ·  "kriminelles" · 11 letters · shape CCVCVCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • kriminellenkirminellen · kkriminellen · kriimnellen · krimienllen · krimineleln · kriminelen · kriminellenn · kriminellne
  • kriminelleskirminelles · kkriminelles · kriimnelles · krimienlles · kriminelels · krimineles · kriminelless · kriminellse

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "kriminellen" and "kriminelles" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([kʁimiˈnɛlən] versus [kʁimiˈnɛləs]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "kriminellen" vs "kriminelles" - which ranks higher?
"kriminellen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,954 in our German list, against #47,544 for "kriminelles". 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 "kriminellen" and "kriminelles" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "kriminellen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "kriminelles" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #977,205 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "kriminellen" and "kriminelles" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "kriminell vs kriminelles". Nearby pair
  • Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes

Confusion rank #977,205 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