nützlichvsnützlichesWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#5,635
“nützlich” frequency rank
#25,253
“nützliches” frequency rank
30888
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature nützlich nützliches
Definition die Eigenschaft, von Nutzen zu sein; häufig oder in einer wichtigen Situation benutzbar; brauchbar Nominativ Singular Neutrum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs nützlich

Where the eye mixes nützlich and nützliches

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. nützlich runs 8 letters (CVCCCVCC) against nützliches's 10 (CVCCCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

8 ch
nützlich
10 ch
nützliches

Look-alike desk: nützlich vs nützliches

A purely visual mix-up. nützlich ([ˈnʏt͡slɪç]) and nützliches ([ˈnʏt͡slɪçəs]) 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 2 extra letter(s) - “nützlich” sits inside “nützliches”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 30888, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

nützlich is recorded at frequency rank #5,635, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈnʏt͡slɪç]. nützliches is at rank #25,253, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈnʏt͡slɪçəs].

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 30888, this pair ranks #1,739,102 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of nützlich vs nützliches

Shared letters: chilntzü. Private to "nützlich": -. Private to "nützliches": es.

"nützlich" · 8 letters · shape CVCCCVCC  ·  "nützliches" · 10 letters · shape CVCCCVCCVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "nützlich" and "nützliches" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈnʏt͡slɪç] versus [ˈnʏt͡slɪçəs]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "nützlich" vs "nützliches" - which ranks higher?
"nützlich" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,635 in our German list, against #25,253 for "nützliches". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "nützlich" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "nützliches" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,739,102 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "nützlich" and "nützliches" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "nützlicher vs nützliches". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #1,739,102 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