durchschnittlichevsdurchschnittlicherWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#4,974
“durchschnittliche” frequency rank
#31,008
“durchschnittlicher” frequency rank
35982
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature durchschnittliche durchschnittlicher
Definition Nominativ Singular Femininum Positiv der starken Flexion des Adjektivs durchschnittlich Nominativ Singular Maskulinum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs durchschnittlich

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set durchschnittliche and durchschnittlicher apart are highlighted. They share 17 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

17 ch
durchschnittliche
18 ch
durchschnittlicher

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. durchschnittliche ([ˈdʊʁçˌʃnɪtlɪçə]) and durchschnittlicher ([ˈdʊʁçˌʃnɪtlɪçɐ]) 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) - “durchschnittliche” sits inside “durchschnittlicher”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 35982, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

durchschnittliche is recorded at frequency rank #4,974, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈdʊʁçˌʃnɪtlɪçə]. durchschnittlicher is at rank #31,008, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈdʊʁçˌʃnɪtlɪçɐ].

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 35982, this pair ranks #1,626,873 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of durchschnittliche vs durchschnittlicher

Shared letters: cdehilnrstu. Private to "durchschnittliche": -. Private to "durchschnittlicher": -.

"durchschnittliche" · 17 letters · shape CVCCCCCCCVCCCVCCV  ·  "durchschnittlicher" · 18 letters · shape CVCCCCCCCVCCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • durchschnittlicheddurchschnittliche · druchschnittliche · ducrhschnittliche · durcchschnittliche · durchcshnittliche · durchhschnittliche · durchscchnittliche · durchschhnittliche
  • durchschnittlicherddurchschnittlicher · druchschnittlicher · ducrhschnittlicher · durcchschnittlicher · durchcshnittlicher · durchhschnittlicher · durchscchnittlicher · durchschhnittlicher

Frequency comparison

durchschnittliche#4,974
durchschnittlicher#31,008

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "durchschnittliche" and "durchschnittlicher" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈdʊʁçˌʃnɪtlɪçə] versus [ˈdʊʁçˌʃnɪtlɪçɐ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "durchschnittliche" or "durchschnittlicher"?
"durchschnittliche" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,974 in our German list, against #31,008 for "durchschnittlicher". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering durchschnittliche vs durchschnittlicher

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list