hässlichenvshässlichesConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#15,915
“hässlichen” frequency rank
#31,109
“hässliches” frequency rank
47024
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature hässlichen hässliches
Definition Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs hässlich Nominativ Singular Neutrum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs hässlich

Where the eye mixes hässlichen and hässliches

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence. hässlichen and hässliches follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCCVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

10 ch
hässlichen
10 ch
hässliches

Visual trap between hässlichen and hässliches

A purely visual mix-up. hässlichen ([ˈhɛslɪçn̩]) and hässliches ([ˈhɛslɪçəs]) 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 - n in “hässlichen” becomes s in “hässliches”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 47024, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

hässlichen is recorded at frequency rank #15,915, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈhɛslɪçn̩]. hässliches is at rank #31,109, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈhɛslɪçəs].

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 47024, this pair ranks #1,298,857 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of hässlichen vs hässliches

Shared letters: cehilsä. Private to "hässlichen": n. Private to "hässliches": -.

"hässlichen" · 10 letters · shape CVCCCVCCVC  ·  "hässliches" · 10 letters · shape CVCCCVCCVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "hässlichen" and "hässliches" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈhɛslɪçn̩] versus [ˈhɛslɪçəs]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "hässlichen" vs "hässliches" - which ranks higher?
"hässlichen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #15,915 in our German list, against #31,109 for "hässliches". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "hässlichen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "hässliches" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,298,857 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "hässlichen" and "hässliches" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "hässliches vs häuslicher". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #1,298,857 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