ehrlichenvsehrlichesTell them apart

Which to use

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

#16,128
“ehrlichen” frequency rank
#33,545
“ehrliches” frequency rank
49673
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ehrlichen ehrliches
Definition Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs ehrlich Nominativ Singular Neutrum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs ehrlich

Where the eye mixes ehrlichen and ehrliches

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. ehrlichen and ehrliches follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCCCVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

9 ch
ehrlichen
9 ch
ehrliches

Visual trap between ehrlichen and ehrliches

A purely visual mix-up. ehrlichen ([ˈeːɐ̯lɪçn̩]) and ehrliches ([ˈeːɐ̯lɪçəs]) 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 a single letter - n in “ehrlichen” becomes s in “ehrliches”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 49673, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ehrlichen is recorded at frequency rank #16,128, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈeːɐ̯lɪçn̩]. ehrliches is at rank #33,545, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈeːɐ̯lɪçəs].

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 49673, this pair ranks #1,202,564 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of ehrlichen vs ehrliches

Shared letters: cehilr. Private to "ehrlichen": n. Private to "ehrliches": s.

"ehrlichen" · 9 letters · shape VCCCVCCVC  ·  "ehrliches" · 9 letters · shape VCCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • ehrlichen ← ehhrlichen · ehlrichen · ehrilchen · ehrlcihen · ehrlicchen · ehrlicehn · ehrlichenn · ehrlichhen
  • ehrliches ← ehhrliches · ehlriches · ehrilches · ehrlcihes · ehrlicches · ehrlicehs · ehrlichess · ehrlichhes

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "ehrlichen" and "ehrliches" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈeːɐ̯lɪçn̩] versus [ˈeːɐ̯lɪçəs]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "ehrlichen" or "ehrliches"?
"ehrlichen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #16,128 in our German list, against #33,545 for "ehrliches". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "ehrlichen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "ehrliches" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,202,564 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "ehrlichen" and "ehrliches" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ehelichen vs ehrliches". 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 #1,202,564 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