tätigenvstätigerWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: tätigen is a verb, tätiger is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“tätigen” is a verb and “tätiger” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#8,799
“tätigen” frequency rank
#46,343
“tätiger” frequency rank
55142
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature tätigen tätiger
Definition etwas in die Tat umsetzen, eine bestimmte Handlung vollziehen Nominativ Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs tätig

Where the eye mixes tätigen and tätiger

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. tätigen and tätiger follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

7 ch
tätigen
7 ch
tätiger

Visual trap between tätigen and tätiger

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: tätigen is [ˈtɛːtɪɡn̩] while tätiger is [ˈtɛːtɪɡɐ]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - n in “tätigen” becomes r in “tätiger”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 55142, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

tätigen is recorded at frequency rank #8,799, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈtɛːtɪɡn̩]. tätiger is at rank #46,343, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈtɛːtɪɡɐ].

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 55142, this pair ranks #991,131 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of tätigen vs tätiger

Shared letters: egitä. Private to "tätigen": n. Private to "tätiger": r.

"tätigen" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC  ·  "tätiger" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "tätigen" and "tätiger" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "tätigen" is a verb and "tätiger" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "tätigen" or "tätiger"?
"tätigen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,799 in our German list, against #46,343 for "tätiger". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "tätigen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "tätiger" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #991,131 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "tätigen" and "tätiger" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "tätige vs tätiger". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #991,131 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