idealevsIdealenWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: ideale is a adjective, Idealen is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“ideale” is an adjective and “Idealen” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#5,966
“ideale” frequency rank
#10,113
“Idealen” frequency rank
16079
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ideale Idealen
Definition Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs ideal Dativ Plural des Substantivs Ideal

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set ideale and Idealen apart are highlighted. They share 6 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
ideale
7 ch
Idealen

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: ideale is [ideˈʔaːlə] while Idealen is [ideˈʔaːlən]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “ideale” sits inside “Idealen”, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 16079, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ideale is recorded at frequency rank #5,966, classified as anadj, pronounced [ideˈʔaːlə]. Idealen is at rank #10,113, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ideˈʔaːlən].

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 16079, this pair ranks #1,938,775 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of ideale vs Idealen

Shared letters: adeil. Private to "ideale": -. Private to "Idealen": n.

"ideale" · 6 letters · shape VCVVCV  ·  "Idealen" · 7 letters · shape VCVVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • idealedieale · idaele · iddeale · ideael · idealle · idelae · iedale
  • Idealendiealen · idaelen · iddealen · ideaeln · idealenn · ideallen · idealne · idelaen

Frequency comparison

ideale#5,966
Idealen#10,113

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "ideale" and "Idealen" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "ideale" is an adjective and "Idealen" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "ideale" or "Idealen"?
"ideale" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,966 in our German list, against #10,113 for "Idealen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering ideale vs Idealen

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “ideale”; for a noun, it's “Idealen”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “ideale” 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