obdachlosvsObdachloserWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: obdachlos is a adjective, Obdachloser is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“obdachlos” is an adjective and “Obdachloser” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#26,986
“obdachlos” frequency rank
#39,553
“Obdachloser” frequency rank
66539
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature obdachlos Obdachloser
Definition keine Wohnung, Unterkunft habend; auf der Straße lebend (neutrale oder männliche) Person ohne festen Wohnsitz

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set obdachlos and Obdachloser apart are highlighted. They share 9 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

9 ch
obdachlos
11 ch
Obdachloser

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: obdachlos is [ˈɔpdaxˌloːs] while Obdachloser is [ˈɔpdaxˌloːzɐ]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “obdachlos” sits inside “Obdachloser”, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 66539, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

obdachlos is recorded at frequency rank #26,986, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈɔpdaxˌloːs]. Obdachloser is at rank #39,553, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈɔpdaxˌloːzɐ].

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 66539, this pair ranks #569,834 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of obdachlos vs Obdachloser

Shared letters: abcdhlos. Private to "obdachlos": -. Private to "Obdachloser": er.

"obdachlos" · 9 letters · shape VCCVCCCVC  ·  "Obdachloser" · 11 letters · shape VCCVCCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • obdachlosbodachlos · obadchlos · obbdachlos · obdacchlos · obdachhlos · obdachllos · obdachloss · obdachlso
  • Obdachloserbodachloser · obadchloser · obbdachloser · obdacchloser · obdachhloser · obdachlloser · obdachloesr · obdachloserr

Frequency comparison

obdachlos#26,986
Obdachloser#39,553

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "obdachlos" and "Obdachloser" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "obdachlos" is an adjective and "Obdachloser" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "obdachlos" or "Obdachloser"?
"obdachlos" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #26,986 in our German list, against #39,553 for "Obdachloser". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering obdachlos vs Obdachloser

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “obdachlos”; for a noun, it's “Obdachloser”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “obdachlos” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list