historischemvshistorischenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#28,706
“historischem” frequency rank
#1,924
“historischen” frequency rank
30630
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature historischem historischen
Definition Dativ Singular Maskulinum Positiv der starken Flexion 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 historischem and historischen apart are highlighted. They share 11 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

12 ch
historischem
12 ch
historischen

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. historischem ([hɪsˈtoːʁɪʃm̩]) 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 a single letter - m in “historischem” becomes n in “historischen”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 30630, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

historischem is recorded at frequency rank #28,706, classified as anadj, pronounced [hɪsˈtoːʁɪʃm̩]. 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 30630, this pair ranks #1,744,129 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of historischem vs historischen

Shared letters: cehiorst. Private to "historischem": m. Private to "historischen": n.

"historischem" · 12 letters · shape CVCCVCVCCCVC  ·  "historischen" · 12 letters · shape CVCCVCVCCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • historischemhhistorischem · hisotrischem · hisstorischem · histoirschem · historicshem · historiscchem · historiscehm · historischemm
  • historischenhhistorischen · hisotrischen · hisstorischen · histoirschen · historicshen · historiscchen · historiscehn · historischenn

Frequency comparison

historischem#28,706
historischen#1,924

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "historischem" and "historischen" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([hɪsˈtoːʁɪʃm̩] versus [hɪsˈtoːʁɪʃn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "historischem" or "historischen"?
"historischen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,924 in our German list, against #28,706 for "historischem". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering historischem 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 “historischem” 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