ähnlichemvsähnlichenWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#16,066
“ähnlichem” frequency rank
#3,788
“ähnlichen” frequency rank
19854
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ähnlichem ähnlichen
Definition Dativ Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs ähnlich Genitiv Singular Maskulinum Positiv der starken Flexion des Adjektivs ähnlich

Where the eye mixes ähnlichem and ähnlichen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence.

9 ch
ähnlichem
9 ch
ähnlichen

Why the eye confuses ähnlichem with ähnlichen

A purely visual mix-up. ähnlichem ([ˈɛːnlɪçm̩]) and ähnlichen ([ˈɛːnlɪçn̩]) 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 - m in “ähnlichem” becomes n in “ähnlichen”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 19854, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ähnlichem is recorded at frequency rank #16,066, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈɛːnlɪçm̩]. ähnlichen is at rank #3,788, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈɛːnlɪçn̩].

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 19854, this pair ranks #1,903,886 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of ähnlichem vs ähnlichen

Shared letters: cehilnä. Private to "ähnlichem": m. Private to "ähnlichen": -.

"ähnlichem" · 9 letters · shape VCCCVCCVC  ·  "ähnlichen" · 9 letters · shape VCCCVCCVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "ähnlichem" for "ähnlichen" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈɛːnlɪçm̩] versus [ˈɛːnlɪçn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "ähnlichem" vs "ähnlichen" - which ranks higher?
"ähnlichen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,788 in our German list, against #16,066 for "ähnlichem". 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 "ähnlichem" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "ähnlichen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,903,886 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "ähnlichem" and "ähnlichen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ähnlichen vs ärmlichen". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #1,903,886 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