herrlichevsherrlichenWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#11,453
“herrliche” frequency rank
#12,094
“herrlichen” frequency rank
23547
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature herrliche herrlichen
Definition Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs herrlich Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Flexion des Adjektivs herrlich

Where the eye mixes herrliche and herrlichen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence. herrliche runs 9 letters (CVCCCVCCV) against herrlichen's 10 (CVCCCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

9 ch
herrliche
10 ch
herrlichen

Why the eye confuses herrliche with herrlichen

A purely visual mix-up. herrliche ([ˈhɛʁlɪçə]) and herrlichen ([ˈhɛʁlɪçn̩]) 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) - “herrliche” sits inside “herrlichen”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 23547, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

herrliche is recorded at frequency rank #11,453, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈhɛʁlɪçə]. herrlichen is at rank #12,094, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈhɛʁlɪçn̩].

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 23547, this pair ranks #1,859,859 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of herrliche vs herrlichen

Shared letters: cehilr. Private to "herrliche": -. Private to "herrlichen": n.

"herrliche" · 9 letters · shape CVCCCVCCV  ·  "herrlichen" · 10 letters · shape CVCCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • herrliche ← herlriche · herrilche · herrlcihe · herrlicche · herrliceh · herrlichhe · herrlihce · herrlliche
  • herrlichen ← ehrrlichen · herlichen · herlrichen · herrilchen · herrlcihen · herrlicchen · herrlicehn · herrlichenn

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "herrliche" and "herrlichen" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈhɛʁlɪçə] versus [ˈhɛʁlɪçn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "herrliche" vs "herrlichen" - which ranks higher?
"herrliche" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #11,453 in our German list, against #12,094 for "herrlichen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "herrliche" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "herrlichen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,859,859 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "herrliche" and "herrlichen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "herrlichem vs herrlichen". 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 #1,859,859 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