christlichevschristlichenWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#4,692
“christliche” frequency rank
#4,029
“christlichen” frequency rank
8721
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature christliche christlichen
Definition Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs christlich Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Flexion des Adjektivs christlich

Where the eye mixes christliche and christlichen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 11 letters in sequence. christliche runs 11 letters (CCCVCCCVCCV) against christlichen's 12 (CCCVCCCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

11 ch
christliche
12 ch
christlichen

Visual trap between christliche and christlichen

A purely visual mix-up. christliche ([ˈkʁɪstlɪçə]) and christlichen ([ˈkʁɪstlɪçn̩]) 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) - “christliche” sits inside “christlichen”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 8721, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

christliche is recorded at frequency rank #4,692, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈkʁɪstlɪçə]. christlichen is at rank #4,029, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈkʁɪstlɪçn̩].

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 8721, this pair ranks #1,983,116 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of christliche vs christlichen

Shared letters: cehilrst. Private to "christliche": -. Private to "christlichen": n.

"christliche" · 11 letters · shape CCCVCCCVCCV  ·  "christlichen" · 12 letters · shape CCCVCCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • christlichecchristliche · chhristliche · chirstliche · chrisltiche · chrisstliche · christilche · christlcihe · christlicche
  • christlichencchristlichen · chhristlichen · chirstlichen · chrisltichen · chrisstlichen · christilchen · christlcihen · christlicchen

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "christliche" for "christlichen" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈkʁɪstlɪçə] versus [ˈkʁɪstlɪçn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "christliche" or "christlichen" show up more?
"christlichen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,029 in our German list, against #4,692 for "christliche". 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 "christliche" and "christlichen" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "christliche" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "christlichen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,983,116 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "christliche" and "christlichen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "christliche vs christliches". 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 #1,983,116 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