HarmonischevsHarmonischenWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#21,283
“Harmonische” frequency rank
#23,973
“Harmonischen” frequency rank
45256
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Harmonische Harmonischen
Definition Physik, Technik: ganzzahliges Vielfache der Grundfrequenz Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Harmonische

Where the eye mixes Harmonische and Harmonischen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 11 letters in sequence.

11 ch
Harmonische
12 ch
Harmonischen

Why the eye confuses Harmonische with Harmonischen

A purely visual mix-up. Harmonische ([haʁˈmoːnɪʃə]) and Harmonischen ([haʁˈmoːnɪʃn̩]) 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 1 extra letter(s) - “Harmonische” sits inside “Harmonischen”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 45256, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Harmonische is recorded at frequency rank #21,283, classified as anoun, pronounced [haʁˈmoːnɪʃə]. Harmonischen is at rank #23,973, tagged as anoun, pronounced [haʁˈmoːnɪʃn̩].

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 45256, this pair ranks #1,359,259 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Harmonische vs Harmonischen

Shared letters: acehimnors. Private to "Harmonische": -. Private to "Harmonischen": -.

"Harmonische" · 11 letters · shape CVCCVCVCCCV  ·  "Harmonischen" · 12 letters · shape CVCCVCVCCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Harmonischeahrmonische · hamronische · harmmonische · harmnoische · harmoinsche · harmonicshe · harmoniscche · harmonisceh
  • Harmonischenahrmonischen · hamronischen · harmmonischen · harmnoischen · harmoinschen · harmonicshen · harmoniscchen · harmoniscehn

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Harmonische" and "Harmonischen" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([haʁˈmoːnɪʃə] versus [haʁˈmoːnɪʃn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Harmonische" or "Harmonischen"?
"Harmonische" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #21,283 in our German list, against #23,973 for "Harmonischen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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 "Harmonische" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Harmonischen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,359,259 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Harmonische" and "Harmonischen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Harmonischen vs harmonisches". 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 #1,359,259 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