zeitgenössischevszeitgenössischerWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#13,284
“zeitgenössische” frequency rank
#25,850
“zeitgenössischer” frequency rank
39134
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature zeitgenössische zeitgenössischer
Definition Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs zeitgenössisch Nominativ Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs zeitgenössisch

Where the eye mixes zeitgenössische and zeitgenössischer

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 15 letters in sequence. zeitgenössische runs 15 letters (CVVCCVCVCCVCCCV) against zeitgenössischer's 16 (CVVCCVCVCCVCCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

15 ch
zeitgenössische
16 ch
zeitgenössischer

Why the eye confuses zeitgenössische with zeitgenössischer

A purely visual mix-up. zeitgenössische ([ˈt͡saɪ̯tɡəˌnœsɪʃə]) and zeitgenössischer ([ˈt͡saɪ̯tɡəˌnœsɪʃɐ]) 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) - “zeitgenössische” sits inside “zeitgenössischer”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 39134, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

zeitgenössische is recorded at frequency rank #13,284, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈt͡saɪ̯tɡəˌnœsɪʃə]. zeitgenössischer is at rank #25,850, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈt͡saɪ̯tɡəˌnœsɪʃɐ].

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 39134, this pair ranks #1,545,198 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of zeitgenössische vs zeitgenössischer

Shared letters: ceghinstzö. Private to "zeitgenössische": -. Private to "zeitgenössischer": r.

"zeitgenössische" · 15 letters · shape CVVCCVCVCCVCCCV  ·  "zeitgenössischer" · 16 letters · shape CVVCCVCVCCVCCCVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "zeitgenössische" and "zeitgenössischer" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈt͡saɪ̯tɡəˌnœsɪʃə] versus [ˈt͡saɪ̯tɡəˌnœsɪʃɐ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "zeitgenössische" or "zeitgenössischer"?
"zeitgenössische" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #13,284 in our German list, against #25,850 for "zeitgenössischer". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "zeitgenössische" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "zeitgenössischer" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,545,198 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "zeitgenössische" and "zeitgenössischer" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "zeitgenössischen vs zeitgenössischer". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #1,545,198 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