kündigenvskünftigenWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: kündigen is a verb, künftigen is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“kündigen” is a verb and “künftigen” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#7,639
“kündigen” frequency rank
#7,498
“künftigen” frequency rank
15137
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature kündigen künftigen
Definition einen Vertrag/eine Vertragsbeziehung einseitig beenden Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs künftig

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set kündigen and künftigen apart are highlighted. They share 7 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

8 ch
kündigen
9 ch
künftigen

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: kündigen is [ˈkʏndɪɡn̩] while künftigen is [ˈkʏnftɪɡn̩]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 15137, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

kündigen is recorded at frequency rank #7,639, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈkʏndɪɡn̩]. künftigen is at rank #7,498, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈkʏnftɪɡn̩].

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 15137, this pair ranks #1,946,104 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of kündigen vs künftigen

Shared letters: egiknü. Private to "kündigen": d. Private to "künftigen": ft.

"kündigen" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC  ·  "künftigen" · 9 letters · shape CVCCCVCVC

Frequency comparison

kündigen#7,639
künftigen#7,498

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "kündigen" and "künftigen" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "kündigen" is a verb and "künftigen" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "kündigen" or "künftigen"?
"künftigen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,498 in our German list, against #7,639 for "kündigen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering kündigen vs künftigen

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “kündigen”; for an adjective, it's “künftigen”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “kündigen” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list