persönlichvspersönlicherWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#1,305
“persönlich” frequency rank
#6,100
“persönlicher” frequency rank
7405
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature persönlich persönlicher
Definition von einer Person (direkt) stammend Nominativ Singular Maskulinum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs persönlich

Where the eye mixes persönlich and persönlicher

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

10 ch
persönlich
12 ch
persönlicher

Look-alike desk: persönlich vs persönlicher

A purely visual mix-up. persönlich ([pɛʁˈzøːnlɪç]) and persönlicher ([pɛʁˈzøːnlɪçɐ]) 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) - “persönlich” sits inside “persönlicher”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 7405, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

persönlich is recorded at frequency rank #1,305, classified as anadj, pronounced [pɛʁˈzøːnlɪç]. persönlicher is at rank #6,100, tagged as anadj, pronounced [pɛʁˈzøːnlɪçɐ].

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 7405, this pair ranks #1,988,280 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of persönlich vs persönlicher

Shared letters: cehilnprsö. Private to "persönlich": -. Private to "persönlicher": -.

"persönlich" · 10 letters · shape CVCCVCCVCC  ·  "persönlicher" · 12 letters · shape CVCCVCCVCCVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "persönlich" and "persönlicher" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([pɛʁˈzøːnlɪç] versus [pɛʁˈzøːnlɪçɐ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "persönlich" or "persönlicher"?
"persönlich" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,305 in our German list, against #6,100 for "persönlicher". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Eye-level mix-up between "persönlich" and "persönlicher" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "persönlich" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "persönlicher" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,988,280 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "persönlich" and "persönlicher" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "persönlichem vs persönlicher". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #1,988,280 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