Which to use
“längst” is an adverb and “längsten” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #1,520
- “längst” frequency rank
- #12,123
- “längsten” frequency rank
- 13643
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | längst | längsten |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | schon lange, seit langem, seit langer/längerer Zeit | Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Flexion des Superlativs des Adjektivs lang |
Where the eye mixes längst and längsten
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. längst runs 6 letters (CVCCCC) against längsten's 8 (CVCCCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses längst with längsten
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: längst is [lɛŋst] while längsten is [ˈlɛŋstn̩]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “längst” sits inside “längsten”, and the parts of speech differ too (adverb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 13643, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
längst is recorded at frequency rank #1,520, classified as anadv, pronounced [lɛŋst]. längsten is at rank #12,123, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈlɛŋstn̩].
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 13643, this pair ranks #1,956,675 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of längst vs längsten
Shared letters: glnstä. Private to "längst": -. Private to "längsten": e.
"längst" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCC · "längsten" · 8 letters · shape CVCCCCVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "längst" and "längsten" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "längst" vs "längsten" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "längst" and "längsten" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "längst" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "längsten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,956,675 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "längst" and "längsten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "längsten vs längstens". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #1,956,675 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.