unterschiedlichevsunterschiedlichemWhat's the difference?

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 spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set unterschiedliche and unterschiedlichem apart are highlighted. They share 16 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

16 ch
unterschiedliche
17 ch
unterschiedlichem

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

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

  • unterschiedlichenuterschiedliche · unetrschiedliche · unnterschiedliche · untercshiedliche · unterrschiedliche · unterscchiedliche · unterscheidliche · unterschhiedliche
  • unterschiedlichemnuterschiedlichem · unetrschiedlichem · unnterschiedlichem · untercshiedlichem · unterrschiedlichem · unterscchiedlichem · unterscheidlichem · unterschhiedlichem

Frequency comparison

unterschiedliche#2,182
unterschiedlichem#31,327

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "unterschiedliche" and "unterschiedlichem" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈʊntɐˌʃiːtlɪçə] versus [ˈʊntɐˌʃiːtlɪçm̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "unterschiedliche" or "unterschiedlichem"?
"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.

Remembering unterschiedliche vs unterschiedlichem

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list