königlichvsköniglichenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#17,348
“königlich” frequency rank
#6,213
“königlichen” frequency rank
23561
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature königlich königlichen
Definition den König betreffend, zu ihm gehörend Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs königlich

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set königlich and königlichen apart are highlighted. They share 9 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

9 ch
königlich
11 ch
königlichen

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. königlich ([ˈkøːnɪklɪç]) and königlichen ([ˈkøːnɪklɪçn̩]) 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) - “königlich” sits inside “königlichen”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 23561, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

königlich is recorded at frequency rank #17,348, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈkøːnɪklɪç]. königlichen is at rank #6,213, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈkøːnɪklɪçn̩].

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 23561, this pair ranks #1,859,664 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of königlich vs königlichen

Shared letters: cghiklnö. Private to "königlich": -. Private to "königlichen": e.

"königlich" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCCVCC  ·  "königlichen" · 11 letters · shape CVCVCCVCCVC

Frequency comparison

königlich#17,348
königlichen#6,213

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "königlich" and "königlichen" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈkøːnɪklɪç] versus [ˈkøːnɪklɪçn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "königlich" or "königlichen"?
"königlichen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,213 in our German list, against #17,348 for "königlich". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering königlich vs königlichen

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “königlich” 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