persönlichemvspersönlichenConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#30,716
“persönlichem” frequency rank
#2,214
“persönlichen” frequency rank
32930
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature persönlichem persönlichen
Definition Dativ Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs persönlich Genitiv Singular Maskulinum Positiv der starken Flexion des Adjektivs persönlich

Where the eye mixes persönlichem and persönlichen

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

12 ch
persönlichem
12 ch
persönlichen

Why the eye confuses persönlichem with persönlichen

A purely visual mix-up. persönlichem ([pɛʁˈzøːnlɪçm̩]) and persönlichen ([pɛʁˈzøːnlɪçn̩]) 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 - m in “persönlichem” becomes n in “persönlichen”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 32930, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

persönlichem is recorded at frequency rank #30,716, classified as anadj, pronounced [pɛʁˈzøːnlɪçm̩]. persönlichen is at rank #2,214, tagged as anadj, pronounced [pɛʁˈzøːnlɪçn̩].

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 32930, this pair ranks #1,697,024 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of persönlichem vs persönlichen

Shared letters: cehilnprsö. Private to "persönlichem": m. Private to "persönlichen": -.

"persönlichem" · 12 letters · shape CVCCVCCVCCVC  ·  "persönlichen" · 12 letters · shape CVCCVCCVCCVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "persönlichem" and "persönlichen" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([pɛʁˈzøːnlɪçm̩] versus [pɛʁˈzøːnlɪçn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "persönlichem" or "persönlichen" show up more?
"persönlichen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,214 in our German list, against #30,716 for "persönlichem". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "persönlichem" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "persönlichen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,697,024 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "persönlichem" and "persönlichen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "persönlichem vs persönliches". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #1,697,024 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