gleichemvsgleicherWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#13,385
“gleichem” frequency rank
#4,797
“gleicher” frequency rank
18182
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature gleichem gleicher
Definition Dativ Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs gleich Nominativ Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs gleich

Where the eye mixes gleichem and gleicher

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. gleichem and gleicher follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CCVVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

8 ch
gleichem
8 ch
gleicher

Why the eye confuses gleichem with gleicher

A purely visual mix-up. gleichem ([ˈɡlaɪ̯çm̩]) and gleicher ([ˈɡlaɪ̯çɐ]) 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 a single letter - m in “gleichem” becomes r in “gleicher”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 18182, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

gleichem is recorded at frequency rank #13,385, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈɡlaɪ̯çm̩]. gleicher is at rank #4,797, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈɡlaɪ̯çɐ].

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 18182, this pair ranks #1,920,651 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of gleichem vs gleicher

Shared letters: ceghil. Private to "gleichem": m. Private to "gleicher": r.

"gleichem" · 8 letters · shape CCVVCCVC  ·  "gleicher" · 8 letters · shape CCVVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • gleichem ← gelichem · ggleichem · glecihem · gleicchem · gleicehm · gleichemm · gleichhem · gleichme
  • gleicher ← gelicher · ggleicher · gleciher · gleiccher · gleicehr · gleicherr · gleichher · gleichre

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "gleichem" and "gleicher" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈɡlaɪ̯çm̩] versus [ˈɡlaɪ̯çɐ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "gleichem" or "gleicher" show up more?
"gleicher" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,797 in our German list, against #13,385 for "gleichem". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "gleichem" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "gleicher" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,920,651 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "gleichem" and "gleicher" 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 #1,920,651 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