zufälligenvszufälligerWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#20,137
“zufälligen” frequency rank
#45,062
“zufälliger” frequency rank
65199
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature zufälligen zufälliger
Definition Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs zufällig Nominativ Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs zufällig

Where the eye mixes zufälligen and zufälliger

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence. zufälligen and zufälliger follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVCCVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

10 ch
zufälligen
10 ch
zufälliger

Visual trap between zufälligen and zufälliger

A purely visual mix-up. zufälligen ([ˈt͡suːfɛlɪɡn̩]) and zufälliger ([ˈt͡suːfɛlɪɡɐ]) 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 “zufälligen” becomes r in “zufälliger”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 65199, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

zufälligen is recorded at frequency rank #20,137, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈt͡suːfɛlɪɡn̩]. zufälliger is at rank #45,062, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈt͡suːfɛlɪɡɐ].

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 65199, this pair ranks #615,157 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of zufälligen vs zufälliger

Shared letters: efgiluzä. Private to "zufälligen": n. Private to "zufälliger": r.

"zufälligen" · 10 letters · shape CVCVCCVCVC  ·  "zufälliger" · 10 letters · shape CVCVCCVCVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "zufälligen" and "zufälliger" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈt͡suːfɛlɪɡn̩] versus [ˈt͡suːfɛlɪɡɐ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "zufälligen" or "zufälliger"?
"zufälligen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #20,137 in our German list, against #45,062 for "zufälliger". 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 "zufälligen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "zufälliger" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #615,157 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "zufälligen" and "zufälliger" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "zufällige vs zufälliger". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #615,157 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