mechanischvsmechanischerConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#17,986
“mechanisch” frequency rank
#32,164
“mechanischer” frequency rank
50150
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature mechanisch mechanischer
Definition in Bezug auf die Mechanik und ihre Gesetze Nominativ Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs mechanisch

Where the eye mixes mechanisch and mechanischer

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 10 letters in sequence. mechanisch runs 10 letters (CVCCVCVCCC) against mechanischer's 12 (CVCCVCVCCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

10 ch
mechanisch
12 ch
mechanischer

Why the eye confuses mechanisch with mechanischer

A purely visual mix-up. mechanisch ([meˈçaːnɪʃ]) and mechanischer ([meˈçaːnɪʃɐ]) 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) - “mechanisch” sits inside “mechanischer”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 50150, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

mechanisch is recorded at frequency rank #17,986, classified as anadj, pronounced [meˈçaːnɪʃ]. mechanischer is at rank #32,164, tagged as anadj, pronounced [meˈçaːnɪʃɐ].

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 50150, this pair ranks #1,184,738 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of mechanisch vs mechanischer

Shared letters: acehimns. Private to "mechanisch": -. Private to "mechanischer": r.

"mechanisch" · 10 letters · shape CVCCVCVCCC  ·  "mechanischer" · 12 letters · shape CVCCVCVCCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • mechanischemchanisch · mcehanisch · mecahnisch · mecchanisch · mechainsch · mechanicsh · mechaniscch · mechanischh
  • mechanischeremchanischer · mcehanischer · mecahnischer · mecchanischer · mechainscher · mechanicsher · mechanisccher · mechaniscehr

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "mechanisch" and "mechanischer" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([meˈçaːnɪʃ] versus [meˈçaːnɪʃɐ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "mechanisch" or "mechanischer" show up more?
"mechanisch" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #17,986 in our German list, against #32,164 for "mechanischer". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "mechanisch" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "mechanischer" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,184,738 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "mechanisch" and "mechanischer" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "mechanischer vs mechanisches". 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 #1,184,738 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