ordentlichenvsordentlicherTell them apart

Which to use

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

#7,373
“ordentlichen” frequency rank
#16,793
“ordentlicher” frequency rank
24166
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ordentlichen ordentlicher
Definition Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs ordentlich Nominativ Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs ordentlich

Where the eye mixes ordentlichen and ordentlicher

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 11 letters in sequence. ordentlichen and ordentlicher follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCCVCCCVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

12 ch
ordentlichen
12 ch
ordentlicher

Why the eye confuses ordentlichen with ordentlicher

A purely visual mix-up. ordentlichen ([ˈɔʁdn̩tlɪçn̩]) and ordentlicher ([ˈɔʁdn̩tlɪçɐ]) 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 a single letter - n in “ordentlichen” becomes r in “ordentlicher”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 24166, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ordentlichen is recorded at frequency rank #7,373, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈɔʁdn̩tlɪçn̩]. ordentlicher is at rank #16,793, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈɔʁdn̩tlɪçɐ].

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 24166, this pair ranks #1,851,478 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of ordentlichen vs ordentlicher

Shared letters: cdehilnort. Private to "ordentlichen": -. Private to "ordentlicher": -.

"ordentlichen" · 12 letters · shape VCCVCCCVCCVC  ·  "ordentlicher" · 12 letters · shape VCCVCCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • ordentlichenodrentlichen · orddentlichen · ordenltichen · ordenntlichen · ordentilchen · ordentlcihen · ordentlicchen · ordentlicehn
  • ordentlicherodrentlicher · orddentlicher · ordenlticher · ordenntlicher · ordentilcher · ordentlciher · ordentliccher · ordentlicehr

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "ordentlichen" for "ordentlicher" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈɔʁdn̩tlɪçn̩] versus [ˈɔʁdn̩tlɪçɐ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "ordentlichen" or "ordentlicher" show up more?
"ordentlichen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,373 in our German list, against #16,793 for "ordentlicher". 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 "ordentlichen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "ordentlicher" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,851,478 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "ordentlichen" and "ordentlicher" 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 #1,851,478 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