holländischvsholländischeWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#40,602
“holländisch” frequency rank
#23,178
“holländische” frequency rank
63780
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature holländisch holländische
Definition die Region Holland betreffend, aus Holland kommend Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs holländisch

Where the eye mixes holländisch and holländische

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 11 letters in sequence. holländisch runs 11 letters (CVCCVCCVCCC) against holländische's 12 (CVCCVCCVCCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

11 ch
holländisch
12 ch
holländische

Why the eye confuses holländisch with holländische

A purely visual mix-up. holländisch ([ˈhɔlɛndɪʃ]) and holländische ([ˈhɔlɛndɪʃə]) 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) - “holländisch” sits inside “holländische”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 63780, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

holländisch is recorded at frequency rank #40,602, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈhɔlɛndɪʃ]. holländische is at rank #23,178, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈhɔlɛndɪʃə].

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 63780, this pair ranks #664,645 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of holländisch vs holländische

Shared letters: cdhilnosä. Private to "holländisch": -. Private to "holländische": e.

"holländisch" · 11 letters · shape CVCCVCCVCCC  ·  "holländische" · 12 letters · shape CVCCVCCVCCCV

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "holländisch" and "holländische" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈhɔlɛndɪʃ] versus [ˈhɔlɛndɪʃə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "holländisch" vs "holländische" - which ranks higher?
"holländische" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #23,178 in our German list, against #40,602 for "holländisch". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "holländisch" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "holländische" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #664,645 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "holländisch" and "holländische" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "holländisch vs holländischen". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #664,645 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