richtigevsrichtigemWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#841
“richtige” frequency rank
#37,165
“richtigem” frequency rank
38006
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature richtige richtigem
Definition Nominativ Singular Femininum Positiv der starken Flexion des Adjektivs richtig Dativ Singular Maskulinum Positiv der starken Flexion des Adjektivs richtig

Where the eye mixes richtige and richtigem

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. richtige runs 8 letters (CVCCCVCV) against richtigem's 9 (CVCCCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

8 ch
richtige
9 ch
richtigem

Look-alike desk: richtige vs richtigem

A purely visual mix-up. richtige ([ˈʁɪçtɪɡə]) and richtigem ([ˈʁɪçtɪɡəm]) 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) - “richtige” sits inside “richtigem”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 38006, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

richtige is recorded at frequency rank #841, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈʁɪçtɪɡə]. richtigem is at rank #37,165, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈʁɪçtɪɡəm].

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 38006, this pair ranks #1,575,350 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of richtige vs richtigem

Shared letters: ceghirt. Private to "richtige": -. Private to "richtigem": m.

"richtige" · 8 letters · shape CVCCCVCV  ·  "richtigem" · 9 letters · shape CVCCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • richtigeirchtige · rcihtige · ricchtige · richhtige · richitge · richtgie · richtieg · richtigge
  • richtigemirchtigem · rcihtigem · ricchtigem · richhtigem · richitgem · richtgiem · richtiegm · richtigemm

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "richtige" for "richtigem" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈʁɪçtɪɡə] versus [ˈʁɪçtɪɡəm]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "richtige" vs "richtigem" - which ranks higher?
"richtige" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #841 in our German list, against #37,165 for "richtigem". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

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 "richtige" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "richtigem" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,575,350 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "richtige" and "richtigem" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "richtigem vs richtiges". 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 #1,575,350 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