sachlichevssachlichenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#13,682
“sachliche” frequency rank
#18,682
“sachlichen” frequency rank
32364
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature sachliche sachlichen
Definition Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs sachlich Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs sachlich

Where the eye mixes sachliche and sachlichen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence. sachliche runs 9 letters (CVCCCVCCV) against sachlichen's 10 (CVCCCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

9 ch
sachliche
10 ch
sachlichen

Look-alike desk: sachliche vs sachlichen

A purely visual mix-up. sachliche ([ˈzaxlɪçə]) and sachlichen ([ˈzaxlɪçn̩]) 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 1 extra letter(s) - “sachliche” sits inside “sachlichen”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 32364, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

sachliche is recorded at frequency rank #13,682, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈzaxlɪçə]. sachlichen is at rank #18,682, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈzaxlɪçn̩].

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 32364, this pair ranks #1,709,228 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of sachliche vs sachlichen

Shared letters: acehils. Private to "sachliche": -. Private to "sachlichen": n.

"sachliche" · 9 letters · shape CVCCCVCCV  ·  "sachlichen" · 10 letters · shape CVCCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • sachlicheaschliche · sacchliche · sachhliche · sachilche · sachlcihe · sachlicche · sachliceh · sachlichhe
  • sachlichenaschlichen · sacchlichen · sachhlichen · sachilchen · sachlcihen · sachlicchen · sachlicehn · sachlichenn

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "sachliche" for "sachlichen" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈzaxlɪçə] versus [ˈzaxlɪçn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "sachliche" or "sachlichen" show up more?
"sachliche" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #13,682 in our German list, against #18,682 for "sachlichen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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 "sachliche" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "sachlichen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,709,228 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "sachliche" and "sachlichen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "sachlichen vs Schliche". 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 #1,709,228 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