Which to use
“richten” is a verb and “richtigen” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #3,275
- “richten” frequency rank
- #1,240
- “richtigen” frequency rank
- 4515
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | richten | richtigen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | etwas Krummes gerade machen, geradebiegen, in eine senkrechte Stellung bringen | Formen der starken Flexion des Adjektivs richtig: ** Genitiv Singular Maskulinum, Akkusativ Singular Maskulinum ** Genitiv Singular Neutrum ** Dativ Plural |
Where the eye mixes richten and richtigen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. richten runs 7 letters (CVCCCVC) against richtigen's 9 (CVCCCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between richten and richtigen
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: richten is [ˈʁɪçtn̩] while richtigen is [ˈʁɪçtɪɡn̩]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 4515, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
richten is recorded at frequency rank #3,275, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈʁɪçtn̩]. richtigen is at rank #1,240, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈʁɪçtɪɡn̩].
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 4515, this pair ranks #1,997,494 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of richten vs richtigen
Shared letters: cehinrt. Private to "richten": -. Private to "richtigen": g.
"richten" · 7 letters · shape CVCCCVC · "richtigen" · 9 letters · shape CVCCCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "richten" for "richtigen" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "richten" or "richtigen" show up more?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "richten" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "richtigen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,997,494 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "richten" and "richtigen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "rechtem vs richten". 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 #1,997,494 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.