Which to use
“katholische” and “katholischen” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #4,365
- “katholische” frequency rank
- #3,131
- “katholischen” frequency rank
- 7496
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | katholische | katholischen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Nominativ Singular Femininum Positiv der starken Flexion des Adjektivs katholisch | Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Flexion des Adjektivs katholisch |
Where the eye mixes katholische and katholischen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 11 letters in sequence. katholische runs 11 letters (CVCCVCVCCCV) against katholischen's 12 (CVCCVCVCCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: katholische vs katholischen
A purely visual mix-up. katholische ([kaˈtoːlɪʃə]) 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 1 extra letter(s) - “katholische” sits inside “katholischen”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 7496, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
katholische is recorded at frequency rank #4,365, classified as anadj, pronounced [kaˈtoːlɪʃə]. 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 7496, this pair ranks #1,987,945 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of katholische vs katholischen
Shared letters: acehiklost. Private to "katholische": -. Private to "katholischen": n.
"katholische" · 11 letters · shape CVCCVCVCCCV · "katholischen" · 12 letters · shape CVCCVCVCCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- katholische ← aktholische · kahtolische · kathholische · kathloische · kathoilsche · katholicshe · katholiscche · katholisceh
- katholischen ← aktholischen · kahtolischen · kathholischen · kathloischen · kathoilschen · katholicshen · katholiscchen · katholiscehn
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "katholische" and "katholischen" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary German text, does "katholische" or "katholischen" show up more?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "katholische" 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 #1,987,945 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "katholische" and "katholischen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "katholische 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 #1,987,945 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.