richtigevsrichtigenTell them apart

Which to use

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

#841
“richtige” frequency rank
#1,240
“richtigen” frequency rank
2081
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature richtige richtigen
Definition Nominativ Singular Femininum Positiv der starken Flexion des Adjektivs richtig Formen der starken Flexion des Adjektivs richtig: ** Genitiv Singular Maskulinum, Akkusativ Singular Maskulinum ** Genitiv Singular Neutrum ** Dativ Plural

Where the eye mixes richtige and richtigen

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

8 ch
richtige
9 ch
richtigen

Why the eye confuses richtige with richtigen

A purely visual mix-up. richtige ([ˈʁɪçtɪɡə]) and richtigen ([ˈʁɪçtɪɡn̩]) 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 “richtigen”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 2081, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

richtige is recorded at frequency rank #841, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈʁɪçtɪɡə]. 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 2081, this pair ranks #2,003,151 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of richtige vs richtigen

Shared letters: ceghirt. Private to "richtige": -. Private to "richtigen": n.

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

Known mistypes of this pair

  • richtigeirchtige · rcihtige · ricchtige · richhtige · richitge · richtgie · richtieg · richtigge
  • richtigenirchtigen · rcihtigen · ricchtigen · richhtigen · richitgen · richtgien · richtiegn · richtigenn

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "richtige" and "richtigen" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈʁɪçtɪɡə] versus [ˈʁɪçtɪɡn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "richtige" vs "richtigen" - which ranks higher?
"richtige" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #841 in our German list, against #1,240 for "richtigen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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 "richtigen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #2,003,151 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "richtige" and "richtigen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "richtigem vs richtigen". 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 #2,003,151 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