UngläubigevsungläubigenWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: Ungläubige is a noun, ungläubigen is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

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

#30,822
“Ungläubige” frequency rank
#21,096
“ungläubigen” frequency rank
51918
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Ungläubige ungläubigen
Definition weibliche Person, die nicht an (den aus Sicht des Sprechers einzigen, richtigen, wahren und dergleichen) Gott und die diesem huldigenden religiösen Lehren glaubt Genitiv Singular Maskulinum Positiv der starken Flexion des Adjektivs ungläubig

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set Ungläubige and ungläubigen apart are highlighted. They share 10 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

10 ch
Ungläubige
11 ch
ungläubigen

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Ungläubige is [ˈʊnˌɡlɔɪ̯bɪɡə] while ungläubigen is [ˈʊnˌɡlɔɪ̯bɪɡn̩]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “Ungläubige” sits inside “ungläubigen”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 51918, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Ungläubige is recorded at frequency rank #30,822, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈʊnˌɡlɔɪ̯bɪɡə]. ungläubigen is at rank #21,096, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈʊnˌɡlɔɪ̯bɪɡn̩].

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 51918, this pair ranks #1,117,004 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Ungläubige vs ungläubigen

Shared letters: begilnuä. Private to "Ungläubige": -. Private to "ungläubigen": -.

"Ungläubige" · 10 letters · shape VCCCVVCVCV  ·  "ungläubigen" · 11 letters · shape VCCCVVCVCVC

Frequency comparison

Ungläubige#30,822
ungläubigen#21,096

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Ungläubige" and "ungläubigen" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Ungläubige" is a noun and "ungläubigen" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Ungläubige" or "ungläubigen"?
"ungläubigen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #21,096 in our German list, against #30,822 for "Ungläubige". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering Ungläubige vs ungläubigen

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “Ungläubige”; for an adjective, it's “ungläubigen”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “Ungläubige” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list