Which to use
“ethnische” and “ethnischen” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #16,413
- “ethnische” frequency rank
- #16,414
- “ethnischen” frequency rank
- 32827
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | ethnische | ethnischen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs ethnisch | Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs ethnisch |
Where the eye mixes ethnische and ethnischen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence. ethnische runs 9 letters (VCCCVCCCV) against ethnischen's 10 (VCCCVCCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: ethnische vs ethnischen
A purely visual mix-up. ethnische ([ˈeːtnɪʃə]) and ethnischen ([ˈeːtnɪʃn̩]) 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) - “ethnische” sits inside “ethnischen”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 32827, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
ethnische is recorded at frequency rank #16,413, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈeːtnɪʃə]. ethnischen is at rank #16,414, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈeːtnɪʃn̩].
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 32827, this pair ranks #1,699,206 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of ethnische vs ethnischen
Shared letters: cehinst. Private to "ethnische": -. Private to "ethnischen": -.
"ethnische" · 9 letters · shape VCCCVCCCV · "ethnischen" · 10 letters · shape VCCCVCCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- ethnische ← ehtnische · ethhnische · ethinsche · ethnicshe · ethniscche · ethnisceh · ethnischhe · ethnishce
- ethnischen ← ehtnischen · ethhnischen · ethinschen · ethnicshen · ethniscchen · ethniscehn · ethnischenn · ethnischhen
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "ethnische" for "ethnischen" ever safe?
Which is more common, "ethnische" or "ethnischen"?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "ethnische" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "ethnischen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,699,206 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "ethnische" and "ethnischen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ethischer vs ethnischen". 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 #1,699,206 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.