gebräuchlichvsgebräuchlichenWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#26,886
“gebräuchlich” frequency rank
#34,677
“gebräuchlichen” frequency rank
61563
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature gebräuchlich gebräuchlichen
Definition im Gebrauch; im gegenwärtigen Gebrauch befindlich; in bestimmter Häufigkeit verwendet Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs gebräuchlich

Where the eye mixes gebräuchlich and gebräuchlichen

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

12 ch
gebräuchlich
14 ch
gebräuchlichen

Visual trap between gebräuchlich and gebräuchlichen

A purely visual mix-up. gebräuchlich ([ɡəˈbʁɔɪ̯çlɪç]) and gebräuchlichen ([ɡəˈbʁɔɪ̯çlɪçn̩]) 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) - “gebräuchlich” sits inside “gebräuchlichen”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 61563, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

gebräuchlich is recorded at frequency rank #26,886, classified as anadj, pronounced [ɡəˈbʁɔɪ̯çlɪç]. gebräuchlichen is at rank #34,677, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ɡəˈbʁɔɪ̯çlɪçn̩].

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 61563, this pair ranks #745,092 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of gebräuchlich vs gebräuchlichen

Shared letters: bceghilruä. Private to "gebräuchlich": -. Private to "gebräuchlichen": n.

"gebräuchlich" · 12 letters · shape CVCCVVCCCVCC  ·  "gebräuchlichen" · 14 letters · shape CVCCVVCCCVCCVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "gebräuchlich" and "gebräuchlichen" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ɡəˈbʁɔɪ̯çlɪç] versus [ɡəˈbʁɔɪ̯çlɪçn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "gebräuchlich" or "gebräuchlichen" show up more?
"gebräuchlich" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #26,886 in our German list, against #34,677 for "gebräuchlichen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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 "gebräuchlich" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "gebräuchlichen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #745,092 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "gebräuchlich" and "gebräuchlichen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "gebräuchliche vs gebräuchlichen". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #745,092 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