wichtigevswichtigenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#1,173
“wichtige” frequency rank
#2,044
“wichtigen” frequency rank
3217
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature wichtige wichtigen
Definition Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs wichtig Formen der starken Flexion des Adjektivs wichtig: ** Genitiv Singular Maskulinum, Akkusativ Singular Maskulinum ** Genitiv Singular Neutrum ** Dativ Plural

Where the eye mixes wichtige and wichtigen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. wichtige runs 8 letters (CVCCCVCV) against wichtigen's 9 (CVCCCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

8 ch
wichtige
9 ch
wichtigen

Why the eye confuses wichtige with wichtigen

A purely visual mix-up. wichtige ([ˈvɪçtɪɡə]) and wichtigen ([ˈvɪçtɪɡn̩]) 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) - “wichtige” sits inside “wichtigen”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 3217, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

wichtige is recorded at frequency rank #1,173, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈvɪçtɪɡə]. wichtigen is at rank #2,044, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈvɪçtɪɡn̩].

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 3217, this pair ranks #2,000,679 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of wichtige vs wichtigen

Shared letters: ceghitw. Private to "wichtige": -. Private to "wichtigen": n.

"wichtige" · 8 letters · shape CVCCCVCV  ·  "wichtigen" · 9 letters · shape CVCCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • wichtigeiwchtige · wcihtige · wicchtige · wichhtige · wichitge · wichtgie · wichtieg · wichtigge
  • wichtigeniwchtigen · wcihtigen · wicchtigen · wichhtigen · wichitgen · wichtgien · wichtiegn · wichtigenn

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "wichtige" and "wichtigen" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈvɪçtɪɡə] versus [ˈvɪçtɪɡn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "wichtige" vs "wichtigen" - which ranks higher?
"wichtige" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,173 in our German list, against #2,044 for "wichtigen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "wichtige" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "wichtigen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #2,000,679 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "wichtige" and "wichtigen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "wichtigen vs wichtigeren". Nearby pair
  • Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes

Confusion rank #2,000,679 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