kritischvskritischesConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#3,465
“kritisch” frequency rank
#24,806
“kritisches” frequency rank
28271
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature kritisch kritisches
Definition bedrohlich, entscheidend Nominativ Singular Neutrum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs kritisch

Where the eye mixes kritisch and kritisches

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence.

8 ch
kritisch
10 ch
kritisches

Why the eye confuses kritisch with kritisches

A purely visual mix-up. kritisch ([ˈkʁiːtɪʃ]) and kritisches ([ˈkʁiːtɪʃəs]) 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 “kritisches”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 28271, 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]. kritisches is at rank #24,806, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈkʁiːtɪʃəs].

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 28271, this pair ranks #1,787,709 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of kritisch vs kritisches

Shared letters: chikrst. Private to "kritisch": -. Private to "kritisches": e.

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

Known mistypes of this pair

  • kritischkirtisch · kkritisch · kriitsch · kriticsh · kritiscch · kritischh · kritishc · kritissch
  • kritischeskirtisches · kkritisches · kriitsches · kriticshes · kritiscches · kritiscehs · kritischess · kritischhes

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "kritisch" and "kritisches" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈkʁiːtɪʃ] versus [ˈkʁiːtɪʃəs]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "kritisch" vs "kritisches" - which ranks higher?
"kritisch" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,465 in our German list, against #24,806 for "kritisches". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "kritisch" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "kritisches" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,787,709 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "kritisch" and "kritisches" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "kritischem vs kritisches". 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 #1,787,709 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