sämtlichvssämtlicheWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#41,487
“sämtlich” frequency rank
#2,618
“sämtliche” frequency rank
44105
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature sämtlich sämtliche
Definition drückt aus, dass alle von einer bestimmten Gruppe gemeint sind Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Flexion des Adjektivs sämtlich

Where the eye mixes sämtlich and sämtliche

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. sämtlich runs 8 letters (CVCCCVCC) against sämtliche's 9 (CVCCCVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

8 ch
sämtlich
9 ch
sämtliche

Visual trap between sämtlich and sämtliche

A purely visual mix-up. sämtlich ([ˈzɛmtlɪç]) and sämtliche ([ˈzɛmtlɪçə]) 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) - “sämtlich” sits inside “sämtliche”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 44105, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

sämtlich is recorded at frequency rank #41,487, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈzɛmtlɪç]. sämtliche is at rank #2,618, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈzɛmtlɪçə].

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 44105, this pair ranks #1,396,899 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of sämtlich vs sämtliche

Shared letters: chilmstä. Private to "sämtlich": -. Private to "sämtliche": e.

"sämtlich" · 8 letters · shape CVCCCVCC  ·  "sämtliche" · 9 letters · shape CVCCCVCCV

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "sämtlich" and "sämtliche" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈzɛmtlɪç] versus [ˈzɛmtlɪçə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "sämtlich" or "sämtliche" show up more?
"sämtliche" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,618 in our German list, against #41,487 for "sämtlich". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "sämtlich" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "sämtliche" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,396,899 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "sämtlich" and "sämtliche" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "sämtlich vs sämtlicher". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #1,396,899 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