katholischvskatholischenWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#13,407
“katholisch” frequency rank
#3,131
“katholischen” frequency rank
16538
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature katholisch katholischen
Definition allumfassend, im Folgenden insbesondere als Eigenschaft einiger christlicher Konfessionen, die allgemeine, beziehungsweise allumfassende Kirche zu sein, oder ihr anzugehören Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Flexion des Adjektivs katholisch

Where the eye mixes katholisch and katholischen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 10 letters in sequence. katholisch runs 10 letters (CVCCVCVCCC) against katholischen's 12 (CVCCVCVCCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

10 ch
katholisch
12 ch
katholischen

Look-alike desk: katholisch vs katholischen

A purely visual mix-up. katholisch ([kaˈtoːlɪʃ]) and katholischen ([kaˈtoːlɪʃn̩]) 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 2 extra letter(s) - “katholisch” sits inside “katholischen”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 16538, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

katholisch is recorded at frequency rank #13,407, classified as anadj, pronounced [kaˈtoːlɪʃ]. katholischen is at rank #3,131, tagged as anadj, pronounced [kaˈtoːlɪʃn̩].

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 16538, this pair ranks #1,935,025 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of katholisch vs katholischen

Shared letters: achiklost. Private to "katholisch": -. Private to "katholischen": en.

"katholisch" · 10 letters · shape CVCCVCVCCC  ·  "katholischen" · 12 letters · shape CVCCVCVCCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • katholisch ← aktholisch · kahtolisch · kathholisch · kathloisch · kathoilsch · katholicsh · katholiscch · katholischh
  • katholischen ← aktholischen · kahtolischen · kathholischen · kathloischen · kathoilschen · katholicshen · katholiscchen · katholiscehn

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "katholisch" and "katholischen" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([kaˈtoːlɪʃ] versus [kaˈtoːlɪʃn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "katholisch" or "katholischen" show up more?
"katholischen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,131 in our German list, against #13,407 for "katholisch". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "katholisch" and "katholischen" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "katholisch" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "katholischen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,935,025 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "katholisch" and "katholischen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "katholisch vs katholisches". 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 #1,935,025 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