falschvsfalschemTell them apart

Which to use

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

#810
“falsch” frequency rank
#29,570
“falschem” frequency rank
30380
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature falsch falschem
Definition unrichtig (durch Irrtum oder Unwissenheit), tatsächlich anders Dativ Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs falsch

Where the eye mixes falsch and falschem

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. falsch runs 6 letters (CVCCCC) against falschem's 8 (CVCCCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
falsch
8 ch
falschem

Look-alike desk: falsch vs falschem

A purely visual mix-up. falsch ([falʃ]) and falschem ([ˈfalʃm̩]) 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) - “falsch” sits inside “falschem”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 30380, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

falsch is recorded at frequency rank #810, classified as anadj, pronounced [falʃ]. falschem is at rank #29,570, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈfalʃm̩].

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 30380, this pair ranks #1,749,060 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of falsch vs falschem

Shared letters: acfhls. Private to "falsch": -. Private to "falschem": em.

"falsch" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCC  ·  "falschem" · 8 letters · shape CVCCCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • falschaflsch · falcsh · fallsch · falscch · falschh · falshc · falssch · faslch
  • falschemaflschem · falcshem · fallschem · falscchem · falscehm · falschemm · falschhem · falschme

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "falsch" and "falschem" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([falʃ] versus [ˈfalʃm̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "falsch" or "falschem"?
"falsch" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #810 in our German list, against #29,570 for "falschem". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

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 "falsch" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "falschem" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,749,060 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "falsch" and "falschem" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "falschem vs Fälscher". 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 #1,749,060 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