historischevshistorischenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#2,503
“historische” frequency rank
#1,924
“historischen” frequency rank
4427
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature historische historischen
Definition Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs historisch Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs historisch

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set historische and historischen apart are highlighted. They share 11 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

11 ch
historische
12 ch
historischen

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. historische ([hɪsˈtoːʁɪʃə]) and historischen ([hɪsˈtoːʁɪʃn̩]) 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) - “historische” sits inside “historischen”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 4427, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

historische is recorded at frequency rank #2,503, classified as anadj, pronounced [hɪsˈtoːʁɪʃə]. historischen is at rank #1,924, tagged as anadj, pronounced [hɪsˈtoːʁɪʃn̩].

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 4427, this pair ranks #1,997,747 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of historische vs historischen

Shared letters: cehiorst. Private to "historische": -. Private to "historischen": n.

"historische" · 11 letters · shape CVCCVCVCCCV  ·  "historischen" · 12 letters · shape CVCCVCVCCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • historischehhistorische · hisotrische · hisstorische · histoirsche · historicshe · historiscche · historisceh · historischhe
  • historischenhhistorischen · hisotrischen · hisstorischen · histoirschen · historicshen · historiscchen · historiscehn · historischenn

Frequency comparison

historische#2,503
historischen#1,924

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "historische" and "historischen" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([hɪsˈtoːʁɪʃə] versus [hɪsˈtoːʁɪʃn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "historische" or "historischen"?
"historischen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,924 in our German list, against #2,503 for "historische". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering historische vs historischen

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “historische” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list