Which to use
“öffentliche” and “ordentliche” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #1,687
- “öffentliche” frequency rank
- #8,606
- “ordentliche” frequency rank
- 10293
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | öffentliche | ordentliche |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs öffentlich | Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs ordentlich |
Where the eye mixes öffentliche and ordentliche
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. öffentliche and ordentliche follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCCVCCCVCCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Look-alike desk: öffentliche vs ordentliche
A purely visual mix-up. öffentliche ([ˈœfn̩tlɪçə]) and ordentliche ([ˈɔʁdn̩tlɪçə]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 10293, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
öffentliche is recorded at frequency rank #1,687, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈœfn̩tlɪçə]. ordentliche is at rank #8,606, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈɔʁdn̩tlɪçə].
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 10293, this pair ranks #1,975,846 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of öffentliche vs ordentliche
Shared letters: cehilnt. Private to "öffentliche": fö. Private to "ordentliche": dor.
"öffentliche" · 11 letters · shape VCCVCCCVCCV · "ordentliche" · 11 letters · shape VCCVCCCVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- ordentliche ← odrentliche · orddentliche · ordenltiche · ordenntliche · ordentilche · ordentlcihe · ordentlicche · ordentliceh
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "öffentliche" for "ordentliche" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "öffentliche" or "ordentliche" show up more?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "öffentliche" and "ordentliche" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "öffentliche" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "ordentliche" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,975,846 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "öffentliche" and "ordentliche" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "öffentliche vs öffentlichem". 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 #1,975,846 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.