langjährigevslangjährigesWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#7,640
“langjährige” frequency rank
#40,658
“langjähriges” frequency rank
48298
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature langjährige langjähriges
Definition Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs langjährig Nominativ Singular Neutrum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs langjährig

Where the eye mixes langjährige and langjähriges

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 11 letters in sequence. langjährige runs 11 letters (CVCCCVCCVCV) against langjähriges's 12 (CVCCCVCCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

11 ch
langjährige
12 ch
langjähriges

Why the eye confuses langjährige with langjähriges

A purely visual mix-up. langjährige ([ˈlaŋˌjɛːʁɪɡə]) and langjähriges ([ˈlaŋˌjɛːʁɪɡəs]) 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) - “langjährige” sits inside “langjähriges”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 48298, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

langjährige is recorded at frequency rank #7,640, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈlaŋˌjɛːʁɪɡə]. langjähriges is at rank #40,658, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈlaŋˌjɛːʁɪɡəs].

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 48298, this pair ranks #1,253,713 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of langjährige vs langjähriges

Shared letters: aeghijlnrä. Private to "langjährige": -. Private to "langjähriges": s.

"langjährige" · 11 letters · shape CVCCCVCCVCV  ·  "langjähriges" · 12 letters · shape CVCCCVCCVCVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "langjährige" for "langjähriges" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈlaŋˌjɛːʁɪɡə] versus [ˈlaŋˌjɛːʁɪɡəs]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "langjährige" or "langjähriges" show up more?
"langjährige" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,640 in our German list, against #40,658 for "langjähriges". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "langjährige" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "langjähriges" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,253,713 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "langjährige" and "langjähriges" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "langjährig vs langjähriges". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #1,253,713 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