erfolgreichevserfolgreichsteWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#3,649
“erfolgreiche” frequency rank
#13,589
“erfolgreichste” frequency rank
17238
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature erfolgreiche erfolgreichste
Definition Nominativ Singular Femininum Positiv der starken Flexion des Adjektivs erfolgreich Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Superlativs des Adjektivs erfolgreich

Where the eye mixes erfolgreiche and erfolgreichste

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 12 letters in sequence. erfolgreiche runs 12 letters (VCCVCCCVVCCV) against erfolgreichste's 14 (VCCVCCCVVCCCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

12 ch
erfolgreiche
14 ch
erfolgreichste

Look-alike desk: erfolgreiche vs erfolgreichste

A purely visual mix-up. erfolgreiche ([ɛɐ̯ˈfɔlkʁaɪ̯çə]) and erfolgreichste ([ɛɐ̯ˈfɔlkʁaɪ̯çstə]) 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 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 17238, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

erfolgreiche is recorded at frequency rank #3,649, classified as anadj, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈfɔlkʁaɪ̯çə]. erfolgreichste is at rank #13,589, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈfɔlkʁaɪ̯çstə].

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 17238, this pair ranks #1,929,151 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of erfolgreiche vs erfolgreichste

Shared letters: cefghilor. Private to "erfolgreiche": -. Private to "erfolgreichste": st.

"erfolgreiche" · 12 letters · shape VCCVCCCVVCCV  ·  "erfolgreichste" · 14 letters · shape VCCVCCCVVCCCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • erfolgreiche ← efrolgreiche · erffolgreiche · erflogreiche · erfoglreiche · erfolgeriche · erfolggreiche · erfolgrecihe · erfolgreicche
  • erfolgreichste ← efrolgreichste · erffolgreichste · erflogreichste · erfoglreichste · erfolgerichste · erfolggreichste · erfolgrecihste · erfolgreicchste

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "erfolgreiche" and "erfolgreichste" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ɛɐ̯ˈfɔlkʁaɪ̯çə] versus [ɛɐ̯ˈfɔlkʁaɪ̯çstə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "erfolgreiche" or "erfolgreichste" show up more?
"erfolgreiche" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,649 in our German list, against #13,589 for "erfolgreichste". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "erfolgreiche" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "erfolgreichste" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,929,151 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "erfolgreiche" and "erfolgreichste" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "erfolgreichste vs erfolgreichster". 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 #1,929,151 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