ehrlichevsehrlichenWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#9,355
“ehrliche” frequency rank
#16,128
“ehrlichen” frequency rank
25483
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ehrliche ehrlichen
Definition Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs ehrlich Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs ehrlich

Where the eye mixes ehrliche and ehrlichen

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

8 ch
ehrliche
9 ch
ehrlichen

Why the eye confuses ehrliche with ehrlichen

A purely visual mix-up. ehrliche ([ˈeːɐ̯lɪçə]) and ehrlichen ([ˈeːɐ̯lɪçn̩]) 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) - “ehrliche” sits inside “ehrlichen”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 25483, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ehrliche is recorded at frequency rank #9,355, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈeːɐ̯lɪçə]. ehrlichen is at rank #16,128, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈeːɐ̯lɪçn̩].

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 25483, this pair ranks #1,832,591 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of ehrliche vs ehrlichen

Shared letters: cehilr. Private to "ehrliche": -. Private to "ehrlichen": n.

"ehrliche" · 8 letters · shape VCCCVCCV  ·  "ehrlichen" · 9 letters · shape VCCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • ehrlicheehhrliche · ehlriche · ehrilche · ehrlcihe · ehrlicche · ehrliceh · ehrlichhe · ehrlihce
  • ehrlichenehhrlichen · ehlrichen · ehrilchen · ehrlcihen · ehrlicchen · ehrlicehn · ehrlichenn · ehrlichhen

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "ehrliche" for "ehrlichen" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈeːɐ̯lɪçə] versus [ˈeːɐ̯lɪçn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "ehrliche" or "ehrlichen"?
"ehrliche" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #9,355 in our German list, against #16,128 for "ehrlichen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "ehrliche" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "ehrlichen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,832,591 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "ehrliche" and "ehrlichen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ehrlichen vs endlichen". 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 #1,832,591 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