minderjährigvsminderjährigeWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#33,188
“minderjährig” frequency rank
#12,760
“minderjährige” frequency rank
45948
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature minderjährig minderjährige
Definition nicht erwachsen im rechtlichen Sinne Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs minderjährig

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set minderjährig and minderjährige apart are highlighted. They share 12 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

12 ch
minderjährig
13 ch
minderjährige

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. minderjährig ([ˈmɪndɐˌjɛːʁɪç]) and minderjährige ([ˈmɪndɐˌjɛːʁɪɡə]) 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) - “minderjährig” sits inside “minderjährige”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 45948, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

minderjährig is recorded at frequency rank #33,188, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈmɪndɐˌjɛːʁɪç]. minderjährige is at rank #12,760, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈmɪndɐˌjɛːʁɪɡə].

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 45948, this pair ranks #1,335,744 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of minderjährig vs minderjährige

Shared letters: deghijmnrä. Private to "minderjährig": -. Private to "minderjährige": -.

"minderjährig" · 12 letters · shape CVCCVCCVCCVC  ·  "minderjährige" · 13 letters · shape CVCCVCCVCCVCV

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "minderjährig" and "minderjährige" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈmɪndɐˌjɛːʁɪç] versus [ˈmɪndɐˌjɛːʁɪɡə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "minderjährig" or "minderjährige"?
"minderjährige" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #12,760 in our German list, against #33,188 for "minderjährig". 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