Which to use
“schwierige” and “schwierigen” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #6,352
- “schwierige” frequency rank
- #6,589
- “schwierigen” frequency rank
- 12941
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | schwierige | schwierigen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs schwierig | Genitiv Singular Maskulinum Positiv der starken Flexion des Adjektivs schwierig |
Where the eye mixes schwierige and schwierigen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 10 letters in sequence. schwierige runs 10 letters (CCCCVVCVCV) against schwierigen's 11 (CCCCVVCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between schwierige and schwierigen
A purely visual mix-up. schwierige ([ˈʃviːʁɪɡə]) and schwierigen ([ˈʃviːʁɪɡn̩]) 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) - “schwierige” sits inside “schwierigen”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 12941, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
schwierige is recorded at frequency rank #6,352, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈʃviːʁɪɡə]. schwierigen is at rank #6,589, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈʃviːʁɪɡn̩].
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 12941, this pair ranks #1,961,094 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of schwierige vs schwierigen
Shared letters: ceghirsw. Private to "schwierige": -. Private to "schwierigen": n.
"schwierige" · 10 letters · shape CCCCVVCVCV · "schwierigen" · 11 letters · shape CCCCVVCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- schwierige ← cshwierige · scchwierige · schhwierige · schiwerige · schweirige · schwieirge · schwiergie · schwierieg
- schwierigen ← cshwierigen · scchwierigen · schhwierigen · schiwerigen · schweirigen · schwieirgen · schwiergien · schwieriegn
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "schwierige" and "schwierigen" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "schwierige" or "schwierigen"?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "schwierige" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "schwierigen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,961,094 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "schwierige" and "schwierigen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "schweige vs schwierige". 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 #1,961,094 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.