richtigenvsRichtungenWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: richtigen is a adjective, Richtungen is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“richtigen” is an adjective and “Richtungen” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#1,240
“richtigen” frequency rank
#4,731
“Richtungen” frequency rank
5971
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature richtigen Richtungen
Definition Formen der starken Flexion des Adjektivs richtig: ** Genitiv Singular Maskulinum, Akkusativ Singular Maskulinum ** Genitiv Singular Neutrum ** Dativ Plural Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Richtung

Where the eye mixes richtigen and Richtungen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. richtigen runs 9 letters (CVCCCVCVC) against Richtungen's 10 (CVCCCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

9 ch
richtigen
10 ch
Richtungen

Visual trap between richtigen and Richtungen

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: richtigen is [ˈʁɪçtɪɡn̩] while Richtungen is [ˈʁɪçtʊŋən]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 5971, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

richtigen is recorded at frequency rank #1,240, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈʁɪçtɪɡn̩]. Richtungen is at rank #4,731, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈʁɪçtʊŋən].

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 5971, this pair ranks #1,993,116 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of richtigen vs Richtungen

Shared letters: ceghinrt. Private to "richtigen": -. Private to "Richtungen": u.

"richtigen" · 9 letters · shape CVCCCVCVC  ·  "Richtungen" · 10 letters · shape CVCCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • richtigenirchtigen · rcihtigen · ricchtigen · richhtigen · richitgen · richtgien · richtiegn · richtigenn
  • Richtungenirchtungen · rcihtungen · ricchtungen · richhtungen · richtnugen · richttungen · richtugnen · richtunegn

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "richtigen" and "Richtungen" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "richtigen" is an adjective and "Richtungen" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "richtigen" or "Richtungen" show up more?
"richtigen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,240 in our German list, against #4,731 for "Richtungen". 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 "richtigen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Richtungen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,993,116 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "richtigen" and "Richtungen" 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 #1,993,116 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