mehrfachevsmehrfachenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#20,663
“mehrfache” frequency rank
#25,232
“mehrfachen” frequency rank
45895
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature mehrfache mehrfachen
Definition Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs mehrfach Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs mehrfach

Where the eye mixes mehrfache and mehrfachen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence. mehrfache runs 9 letters (CVCCCVCCV) against mehrfachen's 10 (CVCCCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

9 ch
mehrfache
10 ch
mehrfachen

Look-alike desk: mehrfache vs mehrfachen

A purely visual mix-up. mehrfache ([ˈmeːɐ̯faxə]) and mehrfachen ([ˈmeːɐ̯faxn̩]) 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) - “mehrfache” sits inside “mehrfachen”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 45895, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

mehrfache is recorded at frequency rank #20,663, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈmeːɐ̯faxə]. mehrfachen is at rank #25,232, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈmeːɐ̯faxn̩].

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 45895, this pair ranks #1,337,505 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of mehrfache vs mehrfachen

Shared letters: acefhmr. Private to "mehrfache": -. Private to "mehrfachen": n.

"mehrfache" · 9 letters · shape CVCCCVCCV  ·  "mehrfachen" · 10 letters · shape CVCCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • mehrfache ← emhrfache · mehfrache · mehhrfache · mehrafche · mehrfacche · mehrfaceh · mehrfachhe · mehrfahce
  • mehrfachen ← emhrfachen · mehfrachen · mehhrfachen · mehrafchen · mehrfacchen · mehrfacehn · mehrfachenn · mehrfachhen

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "mehrfache" for "mehrfachen" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈmeːɐ̯faxə] versus [ˈmeːɐ̯faxn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "mehrfache" or "mehrfachen" show up more?
"mehrfache" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #20,663 in our German list, against #25,232 for "mehrfachen". 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 "mehrfache" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "mehrfachen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,337,505 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "mehrfache" and "mehrfachen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "mehrfachen vs mehrfacher". 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 #1,337,505 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