nachhaltigevsnachhaltigenConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#8,601
“nachhaltige” frequency rank
#14,133
“nachhaltigen” frequency rank
22734
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature nachhaltige nachhaltigen
Definition Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs nachhaltig Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs nachhaltig

Where the eye mixes nachhaltige and nachhaltigen

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

11 ch
nachhaltige
12 ch
nachhaltigen

Why the eye confuses nachhaltige with nachhaltigen

A purely visual mix-up. nachhaltige ([ˈnaːxhaltɪɡə]) and nachhaltigen ([ˈnaːxhaltɪɡn̩]) 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) - “nachhaltige” sits inside “nachhaltigen”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 22734, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

nachhaltige is recorded at frequency rank #8,601, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈnaːxhaltɪɡə]. nachhaltigen is at rank #14,133, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈnaːxhaltɪɡn̩].

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 22734, this pair ranks #1,870,431 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of nachhaltige vs nachhaltigen

Shared letters: aceghilnt. Private to "nachhaltige": -. Private to "nachhaltigen": -.

"nachhaltige" · 11 letters · shape CVCCCVCCVCV  ·  "nachhaltigen" · 12 letters · shape CVCCCVCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • nachhaltigeanchhaltige · nacchhaltige · nachahltige · nachaltige · nachhalitge · nachhalltige · nachhaltgie · nachhaltieg
  • nachhaltigenanchhaltigen · nacchhaltigen · nachahltigen · nachaltigen · nachhalitgen · nachhalltigen · nachhaltgien · nachhaltiegn

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "nachhaltige" and "nachhaltigen" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈnaːxhaltɪɡə] versus [ˈnaːxhaltɪɡn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "nachhaltige" or "nachhaltigen" show up more?
"nachhaltige" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,601 in our German list, against #14,133 for "nachhaltigen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "nachhaltige" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "nachhaltigen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,870,431 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "nachhaltige" and "nachhaltigen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "nachhaltigen vs nachhaltiges". 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 #1,870,431 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