Which to use
“gleichen” is a verb and “gleicher” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #763
- “gleichen” frequency rank
- #4,797
- “gleicher” frequency rank
- 5560
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | gleichen | gleicher |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | wenige oder keine Unterschiede zu einer anderen Sache aufweisen | Nominativ Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs gleich |
Where the eye mixes gleichen and gleicher
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. gleichen and gleicher follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CCVVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses gleichen with gleicher
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: gleichen is [ˈɡlaɪ̯çn̩] while gleicher is [ˈɡlaɪ̯çɐ]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - n in “gleichen” becomes r in “gleicher”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 5560, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
gleichen is recorded at frequency rank #763, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈɡlaɪ̯çn̩]. 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 5560, this pair ranks #1,994,402 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of gleichen vs gleicher
Shared letters: ceghil. Private to "gleichen": n. Private to "gleicher": r.
"gleichen" · 8 letters · shape CCVVCCVC · "gleicher" · 8 letters · shape CCVVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "gleichen" for "gleicher" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "gleichen" or "gleicher" show up more?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "gleichen" 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 #1,994,402 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "gleichen" and "gleicher" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "gleicher 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 #1,994,402 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.