verdächtigevsVerdächtigerWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#9,110
“verdächtige” frequency rank
#20,768
“Verdächtiger” frequency rank
29878
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature verdächtige Verdächtiger
Definition Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs verdächtig Person, die verdächtigt wird, etwas getan zu haben, wobei man noch nicht weiß, ob die Person das tatsächlich getan hat

Where the eye mixes verdächtige and Verdächtiger

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 11 letters in sequence. verdächtige runs 11 letters (CVCCVCCCVCV) against Verdächtiger's 12 (CVCCVCCCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

11 ch
verdächtige
12 ch
Verdächtiger

Look-alike desk: verdächtige vs Verdächtiger

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: verdächtige is [fɛɐ̯ˈdɛçtɪɡə] while Verdächtiger is [fɛɐ̯ˈdɛçtɪɡɐ]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “verdächtige” sits inside “Verdächtiger”, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 29878, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

verdächtige is recorded at frequency rank #9,110, classified as anadj, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈdɛçtɪɡə]. Verdächtiger is at rank #20,768, tagged as anoun, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈdɛçtɪɡɐ].

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 29878, this pair ranks #1,758,520 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of verdächtige vs Verdächtiger

Shared letters: cdeghirtvä. Private to "verdächtige": -. Private to "Verdächtiger": -.

"verdächtige" · 11 letters · shape CVCCVCCCVCV  ·  "Verdächtiger" · 12 letters · shape CVCCVCCCVCVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "verdächtige" and "Verdächtiger" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "verdächtige" is an adjective and "Verdächtiger" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "verdächtige" vs "Verdächtiger" - which ranks higher?
"verdächtige" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #9,110 in our German list, against #20,768 for "Verdächtiger". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "verdächtige" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Verdächtiger" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,758,520 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "verdächtige" and "Verdächtiger" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Verdächtiger vs verdächtiges". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #1,758,520 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