mehrjährigevsmehrjährigenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#33,717
“mehrjährige” frequency rank
#34,257
“mehrjährigen” frequency rank
67974
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature mehrjährige mehrjährigen
Definition Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs mehrjährig Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs mehrjährig

Where the eye mixes mehrjährige and mehrjährigen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 11 letters in sequence.

11 ch
mehrjährige
12 ch
mehrjährigen

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. mehrjährige ([ˈmeːɐ̯ˌjɛːʁɪɡə]) and mehrjährigen ([ˈmeːɐ̯ˌjɛːʁɪɡn̩]) 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) - “mehrjährige” sits inside “mehrjährigen”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 67974, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

mehrjährige is recorded at frequency rank #33,717, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈmeːɐ̯ˌjɛːʁɪɡə]. mehrjährigen is at rank #34,257, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈmeːɐ̯ˌjɛːʁɪɡn̩].

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 67974, this pair ranks #522,744 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of mehrjährige vs mehrjährigen

Shared letters: eghijmrä. Private to "mehrjährige": -. Private to "mehrjährigen": n.

"mehrjährige" · 11 letters · shape CVCCCVCCVCV  ·  "mehrjährigen" · 12 letters · shape CVCCCVCCVCVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "mehrjährige" and "mehrjährigen" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈmeːɐ̯ˌjɛːʁɪɡə] versus [ˈmeːɐ̯ˌjɛːʁɪɡn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "mehrjährige" or "mehrjährigen"?
"mehrjährige" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #33,717 in our German list, against #34,257 for "mehrjährigen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list