gleichvsgleichemWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#234
“gleich” frequency rank
#13,385
“gleichem” frequency rank
13619
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature gleich gleichem
Definition in jeder Hinsicht einander ähnelnd; so geartet, dass die Eigenschaften zweier Dinge sich wenig beziehungsweise gar nicht unterscheiden Dativ Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs gleich

Where the eye mixes gleich and gleichem

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

6 ch
gleich
8 ch
gleichem

Look-alike desk: gleich vs gleichem

A purely visual mix-up. gleich ([ɡlaɪ̯ç]) and gleichem ([ˈɡlaɪ̯çm̩]) 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) - “gleich” sits inside “gleichem”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 13619, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

gleich is recorded at frequency rank #234, classified as anadj, pronounced [ɡlaɪ̯ç]. gleichem is at rank #13,385, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈɡlaɪ̯çm̩].

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 13619, this pair ranks #1,956,816 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of gleich vs gleichem

Shared letters: ceghil. Private to "gleich": -. Private to "gleichem": m.

"gleich" · 6 letters · shape CCVVCC  ·  "gleichem" · 8 letters · shape CCVVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • gleich ← gelich · ggleich · glecih · gleicch · gleichh · gleihc · gliech · glleich
  • gleichem ← gelichem · ggleichem · glecihem · gleicchem · gleicehm · gleichemm · gleichhem · gleichme

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "gleich" and "gleichem" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ɡlaɪ̯ç] versus [ˈɡlaɪ̯çm̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "gleich" vs "gleichem" - which ranks higher?
"gleich" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #234 in our German list, against #13,385 for "gleichem". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Useful next steps

Eye-level mix-up between "gleich" and "gleichem" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "gleich" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "gleichem" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,956,816 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "gleich" and "gleichem" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "gleichem vs glichen". 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 #1,956,816 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