persönlichvspersönlichesConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#1,305
“persönlich” frequency rank
#6,577
“persönliches” frequency rank
7882
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature persönlich persönliches
Definition von einer Person (direkt) stammend Nominativ Singular Neutrum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs persönlich

Where the eye mixes persönlich and persönliches

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

10 ch
persönlich
12 ch
persönliches

Look-alike desk: persönlich vs persönliches

A purely visual mix-up. persönlich ([pɛʁˈzøːnlɪç]) and persönliches ([pɛʁˈzøːnlɪçəs]) 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 “persönliches”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 7882, 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]. persönliches is at rank #6,577, tagged as anadj, pronounced [pɛʁˈzøːnlɪçəs].

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 7882, this pair ranks #1,986,510 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of persönlich vs persönliches

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

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

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "persönlich" and "persönliches" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([pɛʁˈzøːnlɪç] versus [pɛʁˈzøːnlɪçəs]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "persönlich" vs "persönliches" - which ranks higher?
"persönlich" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,305 in our German list, against #6,577 for "persönliches". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Eye-level mix-up between "persönlich" and "persönliches" 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 "persönliches" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,986,510 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "persönlich" and "persönliches" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "persönlichem vs persönliches". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #1,986,510 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