rechteckigvsrechteckigenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#40,784
“rechteckig” frequency rank
#40,785
“rechteckigen” frequency rank
81569
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature rechteckig rechteckigen
Definition die Form eines Rechtecks habend Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs rechteckig

Where the eye mixes rechteckig and rechteckigen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 10 letters in sequence. rechteckig runs 10 letters (CVCCCVCCVC) against rechteckigen's 12 (CVCCCVCCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

10 ch
rechteckig
12 ch
rechteckigen

Why the eye confuses rechteckig with rechteckigen

A purely visual mix-up. rechteckig ([ˈʁɛçtʔɛkɪç]) and rechteckigen ([ˈʁɛçtʔɛkɪɡn̩]) 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 2 extra letter(s) - “rechteckig” sits inside “rechteckigen”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 81569, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

rechteckig is recorded at frequency rank #40,784, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈʁɛçtʔɛkɪç]. rechteckigen is at rank #40,785, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈʁɛçtʔɛkɪɡn̩].

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 81569, this pair ranks #173,261 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of rechteckig vs rechteckigen

Shared letters: ceghikrt. Private to "rechteckig": -. Private to "rechteckigen": n.

"rechteckig" · 10 letters · shape CVCCCVCCVC  ·  "rechteckigen" · 12 letters · shape CVCCCVCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • rechteckig ← erchteckig · rcehteckig · recchteckig · rechetckig · rechhteckig · rechtcekig · rechtecckig · rechtecikg
  • rechteckigen ← erchteckigen · rcehteckigen · recchteckigen · rechetckigen · rechhteckigen · rechtcekigen · rechtecckigen · rechtecikgen

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "rechteckig" for "rechteckigen" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈʁɛçtʔɛkɪç] versus [ˈʁɛçtʔɛkɪɡn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "rechteckig" or "rechteckigen"?
"rechteckig" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #40,784 in our German list, against #40,785 for "rechteckigen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Eye-level mix-up between "rechteckig" and "rechteckigen" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "rechteckig" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "rechteckigen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #173,261 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "rechteckig" and "rechteckigen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "rechteckige vs rechteckigen". 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 #173,261 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