staatlichenvsstaatlicherConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#3,155
“staatlichen” frequency rank
#9,984
“staatlicher” frequency rank
13139
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature staatlichen staatlicher
Definition Genitiv Singular Maskulinum Positiv der starken Flexion des Adjektivs staatlich Nominativ Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs staatlich

Where the eye mixes staatlichen and staatlicher

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 10 letters in sequence. staatlichen and staatlicher follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CCVVCCVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

11 ch
staatlichen
11 ch
staatlicher

Why the eye confuses staatlichen with staatlicher

A purely visual mix-up. staatlichen ([ˈʃtaːtlɪçn̩]) and staatlicher ([ˈʃtaːtlɪçɐ]) 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 “staatlichen” becomes r in “staatlicher”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 13139, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

staatlichen is recorded at frequency rank #3,155, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈʃtaːtlɪçn̩]. staatlicher is at rank #9,984, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈʃtaːtlɪçɐ].

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 13139, this pair ranks #1,959,875 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of staatlichen vs staatlicher

Shared letters: acehilst. Private to "staatlichen": n. Private to "staatlicher": r.

"staatlichen" · 11 letters · shape CCVVCCVCCVC  ·  "staatlicher" · 11 letters · shape CCVVCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • staatlichen ← satatlichen · sstaatlichen · staaltichen · staatilchen · staatlcihen · staatlicchen · staatlicehn · staatlichenn
  • staatlicher ← satatlicher · sstaatlicher · staalticher · staatilcher · staatlciher · staatliccher · staatlicehr · staatlicherr

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "staatlichen" and "staatlicher" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈʃtaːtlɪçn̩] versus [ˈʃtaːtlɪçɐ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "staatlichen" or "staatlicher" show up more?
"staatlichen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,155 in our German list, against #9,984 for "staatlicher". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "staatlichen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "staatlicher" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,959,875 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "staatlichen" and "staatlicher" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "staatlicher vs stattlichen". 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 #1,959,875 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