vernünftigenvsvernünftigerTell them apart

Which to use

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

#11,559
“vernünftigen” frequency rank
#19,070
“vernünftiger” frequency rank
30629
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature vernünftigen vernünftiger
Definition Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs vernünftig Nominativ Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs vernünftig

Where the eye mixes vernünftigen and vernünftiger

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 11 letters in sequence. vernünftigen and vernünftiger follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVCCCVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

12 ch
vernünftigen
12 ch
vernünftiger

Look-alike desk: vernünftigen vs vernünftiger

A purely visual mix-up. vernünftigen ([fɛɐ̯ˈnʏnftɪɡn̩]) and vernünftiger ([fɛɐ̯ˈnʏnftɪɡɐ]) 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 a single letter - n in “vernünftigen” becomes r in “vernünftiger”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 30629, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

vernünftigen is recorded at frequency rank #11,559, classified as anadj, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈnʏnftɪɡn̩]. vernünftiger is at rank #19,070, tagged as anadj, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈnʏnftɪɡɐ].

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 30629, this pair ranks #1,744,148 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of vernünftigen vs vernünftiger

Shared letters: efginrtvü. Private to "vernünftigen": -. Private to "vernünftiger": -.

"vernünftigen" · 12 letters · shape CVCCVCCCVCVC  ·  "vernünftiger" · 12 letters · shape CVCCVCCCVCVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "vernünftigen" and "vernünftiger" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([fɛɐ̯ˈnʏnftɪɡn̩] versus [fɛɐ̯ˈnʏnftɪɡɐ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "vernünftigen" or "vernünftiger"?
"vernünftigen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #11,559 in our German list, against #19,070 for "vernünftiger". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "vernünftigen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "vernünftiger" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,744,148 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "vernünftigen" and "vernünftiger" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "vernünftiger vs vernünftiges". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #1,744,148 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