Which to use
“natürlich” and “natürliche” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #222
- “natürlich” frequency rank
- #3,835
- “natürliche” frequency rank
- 4057
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | natürlich | natürliche |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | sich auf die Natur beziehend, naturgemäß, in der Natur vorkommend | Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs natürlich |
Where the eye mixes natürlich and natürliche
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: natürlich vs natürliche
A purely visual mix-up. natürlich ([naˈtyːɐ̯lɪç]) and natürliche ([naˈtyːɐ̯lɪçə]) 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) - “natürlich” sits inside “natürliche”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 4057, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
natürlich is recorded at frequency rank #222, classified as anadj, pronounced [naˈtyːɐ̯lɪç]. natürliche is at rank #3,835, tagged as anadj, pronounced [naˈtyːɐ̯lɪçə].
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 4057, this pair ranks #1,998,690 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of natürlich vs natürliche
Shared letters: achilnrtü. Private to "natürlich": -. Private to "natürliche": e.
"natürlich" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCCVCC · "natürliche" · 10 letters · shape CVCVCCVCCV
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "natürlich" for "natürliche" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "natürlich" or "natürliche" 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 "natürlich" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "natürliche" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,998,690 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "natürlich" and "natürliche" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "natürliche vs natürlichem". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #1,998,690 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.