Which to use
“eigentliche” and “eigentlichen” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #3,514
- “eigentliche” frequency rank
- #3,807
- “eigentlichen” frequency rank
- 7321
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | eigentliche | eigentlichen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Nominativ Singular Femininum Positiv der starken Flexion des Adjektivs eigentlich | Genitiv Singular Maskulinum Positiv der starken Flexion des Adjektivs eigentlich |
Where the eye mixes eigentliche and eigentlichen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 11 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between eigentliche and eigentlichen
A purely visual mix-up. eigentliche ([ˈaɪ̯ɡn̩tlɪçə]) and eigentlichen ([ˈaɪ̯ɡəntlɪçn̩]) 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) - “eigentliche” sits inside “eigentlichen”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 7321, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
eigentliche is recorded at frequency rank #3,514, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈaɪ̯ɡn̩tlɪçə]. eigentlichen is at rank #3,807, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈaɪ̯ɡəntlɪçn̩].
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 7321, this pair ranks #1,988,585 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of eigentliche vs eigentlichen
Shared letters: ceghilnt. Private to "eigentliche": -. Private to "eigentlichen": -.
"eigentliche" · 11 letters · shape VVCVCCCVCCV · "eigentlichen" · 12 letters · shape VVCVCCCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- eigentliche ← egientliche · eiegntliche · eigenltiche · eigenntliche · eigentilche · eigentlcihe · eigentlicche · eigentliceh
- eigentlichen ← egientlichen · eiegntlichen · eigenltichen · eigenntlichen · eigentilchen · eigentlcihen · eigentlicchen · eigentlicehn
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "eigentliche" and "eigentlichen" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary German text, does "eigentliche" or "eigentlichen" show up more?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "eigentliche" and "eigentlichen" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "eigentliche" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "eigentlichen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,988,585 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "eigentliche" and "eigentlichen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "eigentlichen vs eigentliches". 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 #1,988,585 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.