naturwissenschaftlichvsnaturwissenschaftlicheWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#38,920
“naturwissenschaftlich” frequency rank
#22,078
“naturwissenschaftliche” frequency rank
60998
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature naturwissenschaftlich naturwissenschaftliche
Definition die Naturwissenschaft betreffend, in der Art der Naturwissenschaft arbeitend Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs naturwissenschaftlich

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set naturwissenschaftlich and naturwissenschaftliche apart are highlighted. They share 21 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

21 ch
naturwissenschaftlich
22 ch
naturwissenschaftliche

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. naturwissenschaftlich ([naˈtuːɐ̯ˌvɪsn̩ʃaftlɪç]) and naturwissenschaftliche ([naˈtuːɐ̯ˌvɪsn̩ʃaftlɪçə]) 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) - “naturwissenschaftlich” sits inside “naturwissenschaftliche”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 60998, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

naturwissenschaftlich is recorded at frequency rank #38,920, classified as anadj, pronounced [naˈtuːɐ̯ˌvɪsn̩ʃaftlɪç]. naturwissenschaftliche is at rank #22,078, tagged as anadj, pronounced [naˈtuːɐ̯ˌvɪsn̩ʃaftlɪçə].

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 60998, this pair ranks #766,057 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of naturwissenschaftlich vs naturwissenschaftliche

Shared letters: acefhilnrstuw. Private to "naturwissenschaftlich": -. Private to "naturwissenschaftliche": -.

"naturwissenschaftlich" · 21 letters · shape CVCVCCVCCVCCCCVCCCVCC  ·  "naturwissenschaftliche" · 22 letters · shape CVCVCCVCCVCCCCVCCCVCCV

Frequency comparison

naturwissenschaftlich#38,920
naturwissenschaftliche#22,078

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "naturwissenschaftlich" and "naturwissenschaftliche" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([naˈtuːɐ̯ˌvɪsn̩ʃaftlɪç] versus [naˈtuːɐ̯ˌvɪsn̩ʃaftlɪçə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "naturwissenschaftlich" or "naturwissenschaftliche"?
"naturwissenschaftliche" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #22,078 in our German list, against #38,920 for "naturwissenschaftlich". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering naturwissenschaftlich vs naturwissenschaftliche

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list