Which to use
“eigentliche” and “eigentliches” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #3,514
- “eigentliche” frequency rank
- #38,700
- “eigentliches” frequency rank
- 42214
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | eigentliche | eigentliches |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Nominativ Singular Femininum Positiv der starken Flexion des Adjektivs eigentlich | Nominativ Singular Neutrum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs eigentlich |
Where the eye mixes eigentliche and eigentliches
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 11 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between eigentliche and eigentliches
A purely visual mix-up. eigentliche ([ˈaɪ̯ɡn̩tlɪçə]) and eigentliches ([ˈaɪ̯ɡn̩tlɪçəs]) 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 “eigentliches”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 42214, 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]. eigentliches is at rank #38,700, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈaɪ̯ɡn̩tlɪçəs].
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 42214, this pair ranks #1,456,196 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of eigentliche vs eigentliches
Shared letters: ceghilnt. Private to "eigentliche": -. Private to "eigentliches": s.
"eigentliche" · 11 letters · shape VVCVCCCVCCV · "eigentliches" · 12 letters · shape VVCVCCCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- eigentliche ← egientliche · eiegntliche · eigenltiche · eigenntliche · eigentilche · eigentlcihe · eigentlicche · eigentliceh
- eigentliches ← egientliches · eiegntliches · eigenltiches · eigenntliches · eigentilches · eigentlcihes · eigentlicches · eigentlicehs
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "eigentliche" and "eigentliches" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary German text, does "eigentliche" or "eigentliches" show up more?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "eigentliche" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "eigentliches" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,456,196 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "eigentliche" and "eigentliches" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "eigentlicher 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 #1,456,196 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.