gleichvsgleichesWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#234
“gleich” frequency rank
#7,479
“gleiches” frequency rank
7713
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

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

Where the eye mixes gleich and gleiches

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

6 ch
gleich
8 ch
gleiches

Visual trap between gleich and gleiches

A purely visual mix-up. gleich ([ɡlaɪ̯ç]) and gleiches ([ˈɡlaɪ̯çəs]) 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 “gleiches”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 7713, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

gleich is recorded at frequency rank #234, classified as anadj, pronounced [ɡlaɪ̯ç]. gleiches is at rank #7,479, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈɡlaɪ̯çəs].

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 7713, this pair ranks #1,987,179 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of gleich vs gleiches

Shared letters: ceghil. Private to "gleich": -. Private to "gleiches": s.

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

Known mistypes of this pair

  • gleichgelich · ggleich · glecih · gleicch · gleichh · gleihc · gliech · glleich
  • gleichesgeliches · ggleiches · glecihes · gleicches · gleicehs · gleichess · gleichhes · gleichse

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "gleich" and "gleiches" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ɡlaɪ̯ç] versus [ˈɡlaɪ̯çəs]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "gleich" or "gleiches" show up more?
"gleich" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #234 in our German list, against #7,479 for "gleiches". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "gleich" and "gleiches" 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 "gleiches" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,987,179 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "gleich" and "gleiches" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "gleiches vs Gleichnis". 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 #1,987,179 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