ständigvsständigemWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#1,244
“ständig” frequency rank
#40,870
“ständigem” frequency rank
42114
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ständig ständigem
Definition immer während, oder mindestens über einen langen Zeitraum hinweg Dativ Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs ständig

Where the eye mixes ständig and ständigem

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. ständig runs 7 letters (CCVCCVC) against ständigem's 9 (CCVCCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

7 ch
ständig
9 ch
ständigem

Why the eye confuses ständig with ständigem

A purely visual mix-up. ständig ([ˈʃtɛndɪç]) and ständigem ([ˈʃtɛndɪɡəm]) 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 2 extra letter(s) - “ständig” sits inside “ständigem”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 42114, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ständig is recorded at frequency rank #1,244, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈʃtɛndɪç]. ständigem is at rank #40,870, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈʃtɛndɪɡəm].

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 42114, this pair ranks #1,459,165 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of ständig vs ständigem

Shared letters: dginstä. Private to "ständig": -. Private to "ständigem": em.

"ständig" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC  ·  "ständigem" · 9 letters · shape CCVCCVCVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "ständig" and "ständigem" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈʃtɛndɪç] versus [ˈʃtɛndɪɡəm]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "ständig" or "ständigem" show up more?
"ständig" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,244 in our German list, against #40,870 for "ständigem". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Useful next steps

Eye-level mix-up between "ständig" and "ständigem" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "ständig" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "ständigem" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,459,165 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "ständig" and "ständigem" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "sandigen vs ständigem". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #1,459,165 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