bleichvsbleicheWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#38,648
“bleich” frequency rank
#38,649
“bleiche” frequency rank
77297
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature bleich bleiche
Definition eine blasse oder verblasste, sehr helle, unintensive Farbe habend Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs bleich

Where the eye mixes bleich and bleiche

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.

6 ch
bleich
7 ch
bleiche

Look-alike desk: bleich vs bleiche

A purely visual mix-up. bleich ([blaɪ̯ç]) and bleiche ([ˈblaɪ̯çə]) 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) - “bleich” sits inside “bleiche”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 77297, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

bleich is recorded at frequency rank #38,648, classified as anadj, pronounced [blaɪ̯ç]. bleiche is at rank #38,649, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈblaɪ̯çə].

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 77297, this pair ranks #264,035 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of bleich vs bleiche

Shared letters: bcehil. Private to "bleich": -. Private to "bleiche": -.

"bleich" · 6 letters · shape CCVVCC  ·  "bleiche" · 7 letters · shape CCVVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • bleichbbleich · belich · blecih · bleicch · bleichh · bleihc · bliech · blleich
  • bleichebbleiche · beliche · blecihe · bleicche · bleiceh · bleichhe · bleihce · blieche

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "bleich" and "bleiche" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([blaɪ̯ç] versus [ˈblaɪ̯çə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "bleich" vs "bleiche" - which ranks higher?
"bleich" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #38,648 in our German list, against #38,649 for "bleiche". 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 "bleich" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "bleiche" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #264,035 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "bleich" and "bleiche" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Bleche vs bleiche". 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 #264,035 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