lesbischvslesbischenWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#18,969
“lesbisch” frequency rank
#30,179
“lesbischen” frequency rank
49148
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature lesbisch lesbischen
Definition von der Insel Lesbos Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs lesbisch

Where the eye mixes lesbisch and lesbischen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. lesbisch runs 8 letters (CVCCVCCC) against lesbischen's 10 (CVCCVCCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

8 ch
lesbisch
10 ch
lesbischen

Why the eye confuses lesbisch with lesbischen

A purely visual mix-up. lesbisch ([ˈlɛsbɪʃ]) and lesbischen ([ˈlɛsbɪʃn̩]) 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) - “lesbisch” sits inside “lesbischen”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 49148, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

lesbisch is recorded at frequency rank #18,969, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈlɛsbɪʃ]. lesbischen is at rank #30,179, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈlɛsbɪʃn̩].

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 49148, this pair ranks #1,222,368 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of lesbisch vs lesbischen

Shared letters: bcehils. Private to "lesbisch": -. Private to "lesbischen": n.

"lesbisch" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCCC  ·  "lesbischen" · 10 letters · shape CVCCVCCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • lesbisch ← elsbisch · lebsisch · lesbbisch · lesbicsh · lesbiscch · lesbischh · lesbishc · lesbissch
  • lesbischen ← elsbischen · lebsischen · lesbbischen · lesbicshen · lesbiscchen · lesbiscehn · lesbischenn · lesbischhen

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "lesbisch" for "lesbischen" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈlɛsbɪʃ] versus [ˈlɛsbɪʃn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "lesbisch" vs "lesbischen" - which ranks higher?
"lesbisch" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #18,969 in our German list, against #30,179 for "lesbischen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "lesbisch" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "lesbischen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,222,368 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "lesbisch" and "lesbischen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lesbischen vs Lettischen". 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 #1,222,368 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