staatlichvsstaatlicheTell them apart

Which to use

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

#7,533
“staatlich” frequency rank
#3,339
“staatliche” frequency rank
10872
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature staatlich staatliche
Definition den Staat betreffend, auf den Staat bezogen Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Flexion des Adjektivs staatlich

Where the eye mixes staatlich and staatliche

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

9 ch
staatlich
10 ch
staatliche

Look-alike desk: staatlich vs staatliche

A purely visual mix-up. staatlich ([ˈʃtaːtlɪç]) and staatliche ([ˈʃtaːtlɪçə]) 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) - “staatlich” sits inside “staatliche”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 10872, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

staatlich is recorded at frequency rank #7,533, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈʃtaːtlɪç]. staatliche is at rank #3,339, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈʃtaːtlɪçə].

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 10872, this pair ranks #1,972,886 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of staatlich vs staatliche

Shared letters: achilst. Private to "staatlich": -. Private to "staatliche": e.

"staatlich" · 9 letters · shape CCVVCCVCC  ·  "staatliche" · 10 letters · shape CCVVCCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • staatlich ← satatlich · sstaatlich · staaltich · staatilch · staatlcih · staatlicch · staatlichh · staatlihc
  • staatliche ← satatliche · sstaatliche · staaltiche · staatilche · staatlcihe · staatlicche · staatliceh · staatlichhe

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "staatlich" for "staatliche" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈʃtaːtlɪç] versus [ˈʃtaːtlɪçə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "staatlich" or "staatliche" show up more?
"staatliche" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,339 in our German list, against #7,533 for "staatlich". 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 "staatlich" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "staatliche" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,972,886 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "staatlich" and "staatliche" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "sämtlich vs staatlich". 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 #1,972,886 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