kritischvskritischenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#3,465
“kritisch” frequency rank
#5,731
“kritischen” frequency rank
9196
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature kritisch kritischen
Definition bedrohlich, entscheidend Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs kritisch

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set kritisch and kritischen apart are highlighted. They share 8 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

8 ch
kritisch
10 ch
kritischen

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. kritisch ([ˈkʁiːtɪʃ]) and kritischen ([ˈkʁiːtɪʃn̩]) 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) - “kritisch” sits inside “kritischen”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 9196, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

kritisch is recorded at frequency rank #3,465, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈkʁiːtɪʃ]. kritischen is at rank #5,731, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈkʁiːtɪʃn̩].

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 9196, this pair ranks #1,981,024 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of kritisch vs kritischen

Shared letters: chikrst. Private to "kritisch": -. Private to "kritischen": en.

"kritisch" · 8 letters · shape CCVCVCCC  ·  "kritischen" · 10 letters · shape CCVCVCCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • kritischkirtisch · kkritisch · kriitsch · kriticsh · kritiscch · kritischh · kritishc · kritissch
  • kritischenkirtischen · kkritischen · kriitschen · kriticshen · kritiscchen · kritiscehn · kritischenn · kritischhen

Frequency comparison

kritisch#3,465
kritischen#5,731

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "kritisch" and "kritischen" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈkʁiːtɪʃ] versus [ˈkʁiːtɪʃn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "kritisch" or "kritischen"?
"kritisch" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,465 in our German list, against #5,731 for "kritischen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering kritisch vs kritischen

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 “kritisch” 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