mehrfachvsmehrfacheConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#2,031
“mehrfach” frequency rank
#20,663
“mehrfache” frequency rank
22694
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature mehrfach mehrfache
Definition auf die gleiche Art öfter (nacheinander) auftretend; sich wiederholend Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs mehrfach

Where the eye mixes mehrfach and mehrfache

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. mehrfach runs 8 letters (CVCCCVCC) against mehrfache's 9 (CVCCCVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

8 ch
mehrfach
9 ch
mehrfache

Look-alike desk: mehrfach vs mehrfache

A purely visual mix-up. mehrfach ([ˈmeːɐ̯fax]) and mehrfache ([ˈmeːɐ̯faxə]) 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) - “mehrfach” sits inside “mehrfache”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 22694, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

mehrfach is recorded at frequency rank #2,031, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈmeːɐ̯fax]. mehrfache is at rank #20,663, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈmeːɐ̯faxə].

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 22694, this pair ranks #1,870,938 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of mehrfach vs mehrfache

Shared letters: acefhmr. Private to "mehrfach": -. Private to "mehrfache": -.

"mehrfach" · 8 letters · shape CVCCCVCC  ·  "mehrfache" · 9 letters · shape CVCCCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • mehrfach ← emhrfach · mehfrach · mehhrfach · mehrafch · mehrfacch · mehrfachh · mehrfahc · mehrfcah
  • mehrfache ← emhrfache · mehfrache · mehhrfache · mehrafche · mehrfacche · mehrfaceh · mehrfachhe · mehrfahce

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "mehrfach" for "mehrfache" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈmeːɐ̯fax] versus [ˈmeːɐ̯faxə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "mehrfach" or "mehrfache"?
"mehrfach" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,031 in our German list, against #20,663 for "mehrfache". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Useful next steps

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "mehrfach" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "mehrfache" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,870,938 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "mehrfach" and "mehrfache" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "mehrfache vs mehrfachen". 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 #1,870,938 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