identischvsidentischeTell them apart

Which to use

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

#6,547
“identisch” frequency rank
#23,183
“identische” frequency rank
29730
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature identisch identische
Definition sich vollkommen gleichend, vollkommen gleich, vollkommen gleichartig, übereinstimmend Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs identisch

Where the eye mixes identisch and identische

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

9 ch
identisch
10 ch
identische

Visual trap between identisch and identische

A purely visual mix-up. identisch ([iˈdɛntɪʃ]) and identische ([iˈdɛntɪʃə]) 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) - “identisch” sits inside “identische”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 29730, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

identisch is recorded at frequency rank #6,547, classified as anadj, pronounced [iˈdɛntɪʃ]. identische is at rank #23,183, tagged as anadj, pronounced [iˈdɛntɪʃə].

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 29730, this pair ranks #1,761,363 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of identisch vs identische

Shared letters: cdehinst. Private to "identisch": -. Private to "identische": -.

"identisch" · 9 letters · shape VCVCCVCCC  ·  "identische" · 10 letters · shape VCVCCVCCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • identisch ← dientisch · iddentisch · idenitsch · idenntisch · identicsh · identiscch · identischh · identishc
  • identische ← dientische · iddentische · idenitsche · idenntische · identicshe · identiscche · identisceh · identischhe

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "identisch" for "identische" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([iˈdɛntɪʃ] versus [iˈdɛntɪʃə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "identisch" vs "identische" - which ranks higher?
"identisch" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,547 in our German list, against #23,183 for "identische". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "identisch" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "identische" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,761,363 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "identisch" and "identische" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "identische vs identischen". 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 #1,761,363 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