nächstgelegenevsnächstgelegenenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#35,360
“nächstgelegene” frequency rank
#33,210
“nächstgelegenen” frequency rank
68570
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature nächstgelegene nächstgelegenen
Definition Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs nächstgelegen Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs nächstgelegen

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set nächstgelegene and nächstgelegenen apart are highlighted. They share 14 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

14 ch
nächstgelegene
15 ch
nächstgelegenen

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. nächstgelegene ([ˈnɛːçstɡəˌleːɡənə]) and nächstgelegenen ([ˈnɛːçstɡəˌleːɡənən]) 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) - “nächstgelegene” sits inside “nächstgelegenen”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 68570, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

nächstgelegene is recorded at frequency rank #35,360, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈnɛːçstɡəˌleːɡənə]. nächstgelegenen is at rank #33,210, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈnɛːçstɡəˌleːɡənən].

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 68570, this pair ranks #503,646 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of nächstgelegene vs nächstgelegenen

Shared letters: ceghlnstä. Private to "nächstgelegene": -. Private to "nächstgelegenen": -.

"nächstgelegene" · 14 letters · shape CVCCCCCVCVCVCV  ·  "nächstgelegenen" · 15 letters · shape CVCCCCCVCVCVCVC

Frequency comparison

nächstgelegene#35,360
nächstgelegenen#33,210

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "nächstgelegene" and "nächstgelegenen" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈnɛːçstɡəˌleːɡənə] versus [ˈnɛːçstɡəˌleːɡənən]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "nächstgelegene" or "nächstgelegenen"?
"nächstgelegenen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #33,210 in our German list, against #35,360 for "nächstgelegene". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering nächstgelegene vs nächstgelegenen

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list