empirischvsempirischeConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#21,953
“empirisch” frequency rank
#16,130
“empirische” frequency rank
38083
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature empirisch empirische
Definition auf Erfahrung beruhend; aus Erfahrung gewonnen Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs empirisch

Where the eye mixes empirisch and empirische

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence. empirisch runs 9 letters (VCCVCVCCC) against empirische's 10 (VCCVCVCCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

9 ch
empirisch
10 ch
empirische

Why the eye confuses empirisch with empirische

A purely visual mix-up. empirisch ([ɛmˈpiːʁɪʃ]) and empirische ([ɛmˈpiːʁɪʃə]) 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) - “empirisch” sits inside “empirische”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 38083, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

empirisch is recorded at frequency rank #21,953, classified as anadj, pronounced [ɛmˈpiːʁɪʃ]. empirische is at rank #16,130, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ɛmˈpiːʁɪʃə].

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 38083, this pair ranks #1,573,248 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of empirisch vs empirische

Shared letters: cehimprs. Private to "empirisch": -. Private to "empirische": -.

"empirisch" · 9 letters · shape VCCVCVCCC  ·  "empirische" · 10 letters · shape VCCVCVCCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • empirisch ← emiprisch · emmpirisch · empiirsch · empiricsh · empiriscch · empirischh · empirishc · empirissch
  • empirische ← emiprische · emmpirische · empiirsche · empiricshe · empiriscche · empirisceh · empirischhe · empirishce

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "empirisch" and "empirische" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ɛmˈpiːʁɪʃ] versus [ɛmˈpiːʁɪʃə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "empirisch" or "empirische"?
"empirische" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #16,130 in our German list, against #21,953 for "empirisch". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Eye-level mix-up between "empirisch" and "empirische" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "empirisch" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "empirische" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,573,248 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "empirisch" and "empirische" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "empirisch vs empirischen". 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 #1,573,248 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