unterschiedlichevsunterschiedlichemTell them apart

Which to use

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

#2,182
“unterschiedliche” frequency rank
#31,327
“unterschiedlichem” frequency rank
33509
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature unterschiedliche unterschiedlichem
Definition Nominativ Singular Femininum Positiv der starken Flexion des Adjektivs unterschiedlich Dativ Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs unterschiedlich

Where the eye mixes unterschiedliche and unterschiedlichem

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 16 letters in sequence. unterschiedliche runs 16 letters (VCCVCCCCVVCCVCCV) against unterschiedlichem's 17 (VCCVCCCCVVCCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

16 ch
unterschiedliche
17 ch
unterschiedlichem

Look-alike desk: unterschiedliche vs unterschiedlichem

A purely visual mix-up. unterschiedliche ([ˈʊntɐˌʃiːtlɪçə]) and unterschiedlichem ([ˈʊntɐˌʃiːtlɪçm̩]) 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) - “unterschiedliche” sits inside “unterschiedlichem”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 33509, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

unterschiedliche is recorded at frequency rank #2,182, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈʊntɐˌʃiːtlɪçə]. unterschiedlichem is at rank #31,327, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈʊntɐˌʃiːtlɪçm̩].

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 33509, this pair ranks #1,684,430 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of unterschiedliche vs unterschiedlichem

Shared letters: cdehilnrstu. Private to "unterschiedliche": -. Private to "unterschiedlichem": m.

"unterschiedliche" · 16 letters · shape VCCVCCCCVVCCVCCV  ·  "unterschiedlichem" · 17 letters · shape VCCVCCCCVVCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • unterschiedliche ← nuterschiedliche · unetrschiedliche · unnterschiedliche · untercshiedliche · unterrschiedliche · unterscchiedliche · unterscheidliche · unterschhiedliche
  • unterschiedlichem ← nuterschiedlichem · unetrschiedlichem · unnterschiedlichem · untercshiedlichem · unterrschiedlichem · unterscchiedlichem · unterscheidlichem · unterschhiedlichem

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "unterschiedliche" for "unterschiedlichem" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈʊntɐˌʃiːtlɪçə] versus [ˈʊntɐˌʃiːtlɪçm̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "unterschiedliche" vs "unterschiedlichem" - which ranks higher?
"unterschiedliche" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,182 in our German list, against #31,327 for "unterschiedlichem". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "unterschiedliche" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "unterschiedlichem" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,684,430 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "unterschiedliche" and "unterschiedlichem" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "unterschiedlichem vs unterschiedliches". 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 #1,684,430 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