Which to use
“mechanische” and “mechanischer” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #10,523
- “mechanische” frequency rank
- #32,164
- “mechanischer” frequency rank
- 42687
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | mechanische | mechanischer |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs mechanisch | Nominativ Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs mechanisch |
Where the eye mixes mechanische and mechanischer
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 11 letters in sequence. mechanische runs 11 letters (CVCCVCVCCCV) against mechanischer's 12 (CVCCVCVCCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: mechanische vs mechanischer
A purely visual mix-up. mechanische ([meˈçaːnɪʃə]) 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 1 extra letter(s) - “mechanische” sits inside “mechanischer”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 42687, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
mechanische is recorded at frequency rank #10,523, classified as anadj, pronounced [meˈçaːnɪʃə]. 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 42687, this pair ranks #1,441,718 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of mechanische vs mechanischer
Shared letters: acehimns. Private to "mechanische": -. Private to "mechanischer": r.
"mechanische" · 11 letters · shape CVCCVCVCCCV · "mechanischer" · 12 letters · shape CVCCVCVCCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- mechanische ← emchanische · mcehanische · mecahnische · mecchanische · mechainsche · mechanicshe · mechaniscche · mechanisceh
- mechanischer ← emchanischer · mcehanischer · mecahnischer · mecchanischer · mechainscher · mechanicsher · mechanisccher · mechaniscehr
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "mechanische" for "mechanischer" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "mechanische" or "mechanischer" show up more?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "mechanische" 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 #1,441,718 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "mechanische" 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 #1,441,718 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.