Which to use
“erforderlich” and “erforderliche” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #2,494
- “erforderlich” frequency rank
- #10,464
- “erforderliche” frequency rank
- 12958
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | erforderlich | erforderliche |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | jemand/etwas ist nötig, wird gebraucht | Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs erforderlich |
Where the eye mixes erforderlich and erforderliche
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 12 letters in sequence. erforderlich runs 12 letters (VCCVCCVCCVCC) against erforderliche's 13 (VCCVCCVCCVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: erforderlich vs erforderliche
A purely visual mix-up. erforderlich ([ɛɐ̯ˈfɔʁdɐlɪç]) and erforderliche ([ɛɐ̯ˈfɔʁdɐlɪçə]) 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) - “erforderlich” sits inside “erforderliche”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 12958, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
erforderlich is recorded at frequency rank #2,494, classified as anadj, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈfɔʁdɐlɪç]. erforderliche is at rank #10,464, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈfɔʁdɐlɪçə].
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 12958, this pair ranks #1,960,984 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of erforderlich vs erforderliche
Shared letters: cdefhilor. Private to "erforderlich": -. Private to "erforderliche": -.
"erforderlich" · 12 letters · shape VCCVCCVCCVCC · "erforderliche" · 13 letters · shape VCCVCCVCCVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- erforderlich ← efrorderlich · erfforderlich · erfodrerlich · erfordderlich · erfordelrich · erforderilch · erforderlcih · erforderlicch
- erforderliche ← efrorderliche · erfforderliche · erfodrerliche · erfordderliche · erfordelriche · erforderilche · erforderlcihe · erforderlicche
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "erforderlich" and "erforderliche" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "erforderlich" vs "erforderliche" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "erforderlich" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "erforderliche" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,960,984 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "erforderlich" and "erforderliche" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "erforderliche vs erforderlichen". 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 #1,960,984 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.