ordentlichvsordentlichesTell them apart

Which to use

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

#2,850
“ordentlich” frequency rank
#14,645
“ordentliches” frequency rank
17495
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ordentlich ordentliches
Definition aufgeräumt und geordnet Nominativ Singular Neutrum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs ordentlich

Where the eye mixes ordentlich and ordentliches

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 10 letters in sequence. ordentlich runs 10 letters (VCCVCCCVCC) against ordentliches's 12 (VCCVCCCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

10 ch
ordentlich
12 ch
ordentliches

Why the eye confuses ordentlich with ordentliches

A purely visual mix-up. ordentlich ([ˈɔʁdn̩tlɪç]) and ordentliches ([ˈɔʁdn̩tlɪçəs]) 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) - “ordentlich” sits inside “ordentliches”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 17495, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ordentlich is recorded at frequency rank #2,850, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈɔʁdn̩tlɪç]. ordentliches is at rank #14,645, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈɔʁdn̩tlɪçəs].

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 17495, this pair ranks #1,926,889 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of ordentlich vs ordentliches

Shared letters: cdehilnort. Private to "ordentlich": -. Private to "ordentliches": s.

"ordentlich" · 10 letters · shape VCCVCCCVCC  ·  "ordentliches" · 12 letters · shape VCCVCCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • ordentlich ← odrentlich · orddentlich · ordenltich · ordenntlich · ordentilch · ordentlcih · ordentlicch · ordentlichh
  • ordentliches ← odrentliches · orddentliches · ordenltiches · ordenntliches · ordentilches · ordentlcihes · ordentlicches · ordentlicehs

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "ordentlich" for "ordentliches" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈɔʁdn̩tlɪç] versus [ˈɔʁdn̩tlɪçəs]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "ordentlich" vs "ordentliches" - which ranks higher?
"ordentlich" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,850 in our German list, against #14,645 for "ordentliches". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "ordentlich" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "ordentliches" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,926,889 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "ordentlich" and "ordentliches" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ordentlicher vs ordentliches". 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 #1,926,889 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