langjährigvslangjährigenTell them apart

Which to use

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

#45,419
“langjährig” frequency rank
#8,238
“langjährigen” frequency rank
53657
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature langjährig langjährigen
Definition viele Jahre bestehend, dauernd Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Flexion des Adjektivs langjährig

Where the eye mixes langjährig and langjährigen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 10 letters in sequence. langjährig runs 10 letters (CVCCCVCCVC) against langjährigen's 12 (CVCCCVCCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

10 ch
langjährig
12 ch
langjährigen

Visual trap between langjährig and langjährigen

A purely visual mix-up. langjährig ([ˈlaŋˌjɛːʁɪç]) and langjährigen ([ˈlaŋˌjɛːʁɪɡn̩]) 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 2 extra letter(s) - “langjährig” sits inside “langjährigen”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 53657, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

langjährig is recorded at frequency rank #45,419, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈlaŋˌjɛːʁɪç]. langjährigen is at rank #8,238, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈlaŋˌjɛːʁɪɡn̩].

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 53657, this pair ranks #1,049,483 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of langjährig vs langjährigen

Shared letters: aghijlnrä. Private to "langjährig": -. Private to "langjährigen": e.

"langjährig" · 10 letters · shape CVCCCVCCVC  ·  "langjährigen" · 12 letters · shape CVCCCVCCVCVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "langjährig" for "langjährigen" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈlaŋˌjɛːʁɪç] versus [ˈlaŋˌjɛːʁɪɡn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "langjährig" or "langjährigen" show up more?
"langjährigen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,238 in our German list, against #45,419 for "langjährig". 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 "langjährig" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "langjährigen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,049,483 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "langjährig" and "langjährigen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "langjährig vs langjähriges". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #1,049,483 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