empirischvsempirischenWhat's the difference?

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 spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set empirisch and empirischen apart are highlighted. They share 9 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

9 ch
empirisch
11 ch
empirischen

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

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

  • empirischemiprisch · emmpirisch · empiirsch · empiricsh · empiriscch · empirischh · empirishc · empirissch
  • empirischenemiprischen · emmpirischen · empiirschen · empiricshen · empiriscchen · empiriscehn · empirischenn · empirischhen

Frequency comparison

empirisch#21,953
empirischen#23,909

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "empirisch" and "empirischen" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ɛmˈpiːʁɪʃ] versus [ɛmˈpiːʁɪʃn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "empirisch" or "empirischen"?
"empirisch" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #21,953 in our German list, against #23,909 for "empirischen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering empirisch vs empirischen

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “empirisch” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list