nötigenvsnötigerConfusable pair

Quick tell: nötigen is a verb, nötiger is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“nötigen” is a verb and “nötiger” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#5,990
“nötigen” frequency rank
#45,487
“nötiger” frequency rank
51477
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature nötigen nötiger
Definition jemanden durch Androhung oder Ausübung von Gewalt zu etwas zwingen Nominativ Singular Maskulinum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs nötig

Where the eye mixes nötigen and nötiger

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. nötigen and nötiger follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

7 ch
nötigen
7 ch
nötiger

Look-alike desk: nötigen vs nötiger

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: nötigen is [ˈnøːtɪɡn̩] while nötiger is [ˈnøːtɪɡɐ]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - n in “nötigen” becomes r in “nötiger”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 51477, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

nötigen is recorded at frequency rank #5,990, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈnøːtɪɡn̩]. nötiger is at rank #45,487, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈnøːtɪɡɐ].

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 51477, this pair ranks #1,134,075 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of nötigen vs nötiger

Shared letters: egintö. Private to "nötigen": -. Private to "nötiger": r.

"nötigen" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC  ·  "nötiger" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "nötigen" and "nötiger" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "nötigen" is a verb and "nötiger" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "nötigen" or "nötiger" show up more?
"nötigen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,990 in our German list, against #45,487 for "nötiger". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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 "nötigen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "nötiger" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,134,075 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "nötigen" and "nötiger" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "notice vs nötiger". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #1,134,075 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