sommerlichevssommerlichenWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#45,591
“sommerliche” frequency rank
#32,275
“sommerlichen” frequency rank
77866
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature sommerliche sommerlichen
Definition Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs sommerlich Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs sommerlich

Where the eye mixes sommerliche and sommerlichen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 11 letters in sequence.

11 ch
sommerliche
12 ch
sommerlichen

Look-alike desk: sommerliche vs sommerlichen

A purely visual mix-up. sommerliche ([ˈzɔmɐlɪçə]) and sommerlichen ([ˈzɔmɐlɪçn̩]) 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) - “sommerliche” sits inside “sommerlichen”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 77866, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

sommerliche is recorded at frequency rank #45,591, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈzɔmɐlɪçə]. sommerlichen is at rank #32,275, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈzɔmɐlɪçn̩].

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 77866, this pair ranks #251,121 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of sommerliche vs sommerlichen

Shared letters: cehilmors. Private to "sommerliche": -. Private to "sommerlichen": n.

"sommerliche" · 11 letters · shape CVCCVCCVCCV  ·  "sommerlichen" · 12 letters · shape CVCCVCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • sommerlicheosmmerliche · smomerliche · somemrliche · somerliche · sommelriche · sommerilche · sommerlcihe · sommerlicche
  • sommerlichenosmmerlichen · smomerlichen · somemrlichen · somerlichen · sommelrichen · sommerilchen · sommerlcihen · sommerlicchen

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "sommerliche" and "sommerlichen" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈzɔmɐlɪçə] versus [ˈzɔmɐlɪçn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "sommerliche" or "sommerlichen" show up more?
"sommerlichen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #32,275 in our German list, against #45,591 for "sommerliche". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "sommerliche" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "sommerlichen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #251,121 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "sommerliche" and "sommerlichen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "sommerliche vs Sommerloch". 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 #251,121 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