Which to use
“letzten” is an adjective and “letztens” is an adverb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #279
- “letzten” frequency rank
- #8,243
- “letztens” frequency rank
- 8522
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | letzten | letztens |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Flexion des Adjektivs letzte | neulich, vor Kurzem |
Where the eye mixes letzten and letztens
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. letzten runs 7 letters (CVCCCVC) against letztens's 8 (CVCCCVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between letzten and letztens
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: letzten is [ˈlɛt͡stn̩] while letztens is [ˈlɛt͡stn̩s]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “letzten” sits inside “letztens”, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs adverb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 8522, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
letzten is recorded at frequency rank #279, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈlɛt͡stn̩]. letztens is at rank #8,243, tagged as anadv, pronounced [ˈlɛt͡stn̩s].
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 8522, this pair ranks #1,983,951 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of letzten vs letztens
Shared letters: elntz. Private to "letzten": -. Private to "letztens": s.
"letzten" · 7 letters · shape CVCCCVC · "letztens" · 8 letters · shape CVCCCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "letzten" and "letztens" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary German text, does "letzten" or "letztens" show up more?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "letzten" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "letztens" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,983,951 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "letzten" and "letztens" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "letten vs letztens". 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 #1,983,951 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.