schrecklichenvsschrecklicherWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#13,011
“schrecklichen” frequency rank
#27,478
“schrecklicher” frequency rank
40489
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature schrecklichen schrecklicher
Definition Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs schrecklich Nominativ Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs schrecklich

Where the eye mixes schrecklichen and schrecklicher

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 12 letters in sequence. schrecklichen and schrecklicher follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CCCCVCCCVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

13 ch
schrecklichen
13 ch
schrecklicher

Visual trap between schrecklichen and schrecklicher

A purely visual mix-up. schrecklichen ([ˈʃʁɛklɪçn̩]) and schrecklicher ([ˈʃʁɛklɪçɐ]) 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 - n in “schrecklichen” becomes r in “schrecklicher”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 40489, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

schrecklichen is recorded at frequency rank #13,011, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈʃʁɛklɪçn̩]. schrecklicher is at rank #27,478, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈʃʁɛklɪçɐ].

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 40489, this pair ranks #1,506,979 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of schrecklichen vs schrecklicher

Shared letters: cehiklrs. Private to "schrecklichen": n. Private to "schrecklicher": -.

"schrecklichen" · 13 letters · shape CCCCVCCCVCCVC  ·  "schrecklicher" · 13 letters · shape CCCCVCCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • schrecklichen ← cshrecklichen · scchrecklichen · schercklichen · schhrecklichen · schrceklichen · schreccklichen · schreckilchen · schreckklichen
  • schrecklicher ← cshrecklicher · scchrecklicher · schercklicher · schhrecklicher · schrceklicher · schreccklicher · schreckilcher · schreckklicher

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "schrecklichen" and "schrecklicher" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈʃʁɛklɪçn̩] versus [ˈʃʁɛklɪçɐ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "schrecklichen" or "schrecklicher" show up more?
"schrecklichen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #13,011 in our German list, against #27,478 for "schrecklicher". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "schrecklichen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "schrecklicher" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,506,979 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "schrecklichen" and "schrecklicher" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "schrecklicher vs schreckliches". 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 #1,506,979 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