Which to use
“empirisch” and “empirischen” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #21,953
- “empirisch” frequency rank
- #23,909
- “empirischen” frequency rank
- 45862
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | empirisch | empirischen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | auf Erfahrung beruhend; aus Erfahrung gewonnen | Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs empirisch |
Where the eye mixes empirisch and empirischen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence. empirisch runs 9 letters (VCCVCVCCC) against empirischen's 11 (VCCVCVCCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses empirisch with empirischen
A purely visual mix-up. empirisch ([ɛmˈpiːʁɪʃ]) and empirischen ([ɛmˈpiːʁɪʃn̩]) 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 2 extra letter(s) - “empirisch” sits inside “empirischen”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 45862, 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]. empirischen is at rank #23,909, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ɛmˈpiːʁɪʃn̩].
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 45862, this pair ranks #1,338,659 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of empirisch vs empirischen
Shared letters: cehimprs. Private to "empirisch": -. Private to "empirischen": n.
"empirisch" · 9 letters · shape VCCVCVCCC · "empirischen" · 11 letters · shape VCCVCVCCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- empirisch ← emiprisch · emmpirisch · empiirsch · empiricsh · empiriscch · empirischh · empirishc · empirissch
- empirischen ← emiprischen · emmpirischen · empiirschen · empiricshen · empiriscchen · empiriscehn · empirischenn · empirischhen
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "empirisch" for "empirischen" ever safe?
Which is more common, "empirisch" or "empirischen"?
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 "empirisch" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "empirischen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,338,659 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "empirisch" and "empirischen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "empirische 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 #1,338,659 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.