unterschiedlichemvsunterschiedlichenConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#31,327
“unterschiedlichem” frequency rank
#2,221
“unterschiedlichen” frequency rank
33548
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature unterschiedlichem unterschiedlichen
Definition Dativ Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs unterschiedlich Genitiv Singular Maskulinum Positiv der starken Flexion des Adjektivs unterschiedlich

Where the eye mixes unterschiedlichem and unterschiedlichen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 16 letters in sequence. unterschiedlichem and unterschiedlichen follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCCVCCCCVVCCVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

17 ch
unterschiedlichem
17 ch
unterschiedlichen

Visual trap between unterschiedlichem and unterschiedlichen

A purely visual mix-up. unterschiedlichem ([ˈʊntɐˌʃiːtlɪçm̩]) and unterschiedlichen ([ˈʊntɐˌʃiːtlɪçn̩]) 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 - m in “unterschiedlichem” becomes n in “unterschiedlichen”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 33548, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

unterschiedlichem is recorded at frequency rank #31,327, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈʊntɐˌʃiːtlɪçm̩]. unterschiedlichen is at rank #2,221, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈʊntɐˌʃiːtlɪçn̩].

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 33548, this pair ranks #1,683,552 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of unterschiedlichem vs unterschiedlichen

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

"unterschiedlichem" · 17 letters · shape VCCVCCCCVVCCVCCVC  ·  "unterschiedlichen" · 17 letters · shape VCCVCCCCVVCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • unterschiedlichem ← nuterschiedlichem · unetrschiedlichem · unnterschiedlichem · untercshiedlichem · unterrschiedlichem · unterscchiedlichem · unterscheidlichem · unterschhiedlichem
  • unterschiedlichen ← nuterschiedlichen · unetrschiedlichen · unnterschiedlichen · untercshiedlichen · unterrschiedlichen · unterscchiedlichen · unterscheidlichen · unterschhiedlichen

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "unterschiedlichem" for "unterschiedlichen" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈʊntɐˌʃiːtlɪçm̩] versus [ˈʊntɐˌʃiːtlɪçn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "unterschiedlichem" or "unterschiedlichen" show up more?
"unterschiedlichen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,221 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.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "unterschiedlichem" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "unterschiedlichen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,683,552 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "unterschiedlichem" and "unterschiedlichen" 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 #1,683,552 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