Which to use
“bürgerliche” and “bürgerliches” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #10,248
- “bürgerliche” frequency rank
- #32,981
- “bürgerliches” frequency rank
- 43229
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | bürgerliche | bürgerliches |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs bürgerlich | Nominativ Singular Neutrum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs bürgerlich |
Where the eye mixes bürgerliche and bürgerliches
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 11 letters in sequence. bürgerliche runs 11 letters (CVCCVCCVCCV) against bürgerliches's 12 (CVCCVCCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses bürgerliche with bürgerliches
A purely visual mix-up. bürgerliche ([ˈbʏʁɡɐlɪçə]) and bürgerliches ([ˈbʏʁɡɐlɪçəs]) 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) - “bürgerliche” sits inside “bürgerliches”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 43229, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
bürgerliche is recorded at frequency rank #10,248, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈbʏʁɡɐlɪçə]. bürgerliches is at rank #32,981, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈbʏʁɡɐlɪçəs].
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 43229, this pair ranks #1,424,665 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of bürgerliche vs bürgerliches
Shared letters: bceghilrü. Private to "bürgerliche": -. Private to "bürgerliches": s.
"bürgerliche" · 11 letters · shape CVCCVCCVCCV · "bürgerliches" · 12 letters · shape CVCCVCCVCCVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "bürgerliche" and "bürgerliches" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary German text, does "bürgerliche" or "bürgerliches" show up more?
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 "bürgerliche" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "bürgerliches" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,424,665 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "bürgerliche" and "bürgerliches" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "bürgerlicher vs bürgerliches". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #1,424,665 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.