vierjährigevsvierjährigenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#37,288
“vierjährige” frequency rank
#36,717
“vierjährigen” frequency rank
74005
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature vierjährige vierjährigen
Definition Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs vierjährig Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs vierjährig

Where the eye mixes vierjährige and vierjährigen

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

11 ch
vierjährige
12 ch
vierjährigen

Why the eye confuses vierjährige with vierjährigen

A purely visual mix-up. vierjährige ([ˈfiːɐ̯ˌjɛːʁɪɡə]) and vierjährigen ([ˈfiːɐ̯ˌjɛːʁɪɡn̩]) 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 1 extra letter(s) - “vierjährige” sits inside “vierjährigen”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 74005, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

vierjährige is recorded at frequency rank #37,288, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈfiːɐ̯ˌjɛːʁɪɡə]. vierjährigen is at rank #36,717, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈfiːɐ̯ˌjɛːʁɪɡn̩].

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 74005, this pair ranks #344,986 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of vierjährige vs vierjährigen

Shared letters: eghijrvä. Private to "vierjährige": -. Private to "vierjährigen": n.

"vierjährige" · 11 letters · shape CVVCCVCCVCV  ·  "vierjährigen" · 12 letters · shape CVVCCVCCVCVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "vierjährige" for "vierjährigen" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈfiːɐ̯ˌjɛːʁɪɡə] versus [ˈfiːɐ̯ˌjɛːʁɪɡn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "vierjährige" vs "vierjährigen" - which ranks higher?
"vierjährigen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #36,717 in our German list, against #37,288 for "vierjährige". 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 "vierjährige" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "vierjährigen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #344,986 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics

Confusion rank #344,986 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