unterschiedlichenvsunterschiedlichesConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#2,221
“unterschiedlichen” frequency rank
#42,213
“unterschiedliches” frequency rank
44434
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature unterschiedlichen unterschiedliches
Definition Genitiv Singular Maskulinum Positiv der starken Flexion des Adjektivs unterschiedlich Nominativ Singular Neutrum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs unterschiedlich

Where the eye mixes unterschiedlichen and unterschiedliches

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

17 ch
unterschiedlichen
17 ch
unterschiedliches

Why the eye confuses unterschiedlichen with unterschiedliches

A purely visual mix-up. unterschiedlichen ([ˈʊntɐˌʃiːtlɪçn̩]) and unterschiedliches ([ˈʊntɐˌʃiːtlɪçəs]) 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 “unterschiedlichen” becomes s in “unterschiedliches”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 44434, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

unterschiedlichen is recorded at frequency rank #2,221, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈʊntɐˌʃiːtlɪçn̩]. unterschiedliches is at rank #42,213, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈʊntɐˌʃiːtlɪçəs].

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 44434, this pair ranks #1,386,311 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of unterschiedlichen vs unterschiedliches

Shared letters: cdehilnrstu. Private to "unterschiedlichen": -. Private to "unterschiedliches": -.

"unterschiedlichen" · 17 letters · shape VCCVCCCCVVCCVCCVC  ·  "unterschiedliches" · 17 letters · shape VCCVCCCCVVCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • unterschiedlichen ← nuterschiedlichen · unetrschiedlichen · unnterschiedlichen · untercshiedlichen · unterrschiedlichen · unterscchiedlichen · unterscheidlichen · unterschhiedlichen
  • unterschiedliches ← nuterschiedliches · unetrschiedliches · unnterschiedliches · untercshiedliches · unterrschiedliches · unterscchiedliches · unterscheidliches · unterschhiedliches

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "unterschiedlichen" for "unterschiedliches" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈʊntɐˌʃiːtlɪçn̩] versus [ˈʊntɐˌʃiːtlɪçəs]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "unterschiedlichen" vs "unterschiedliches" - which ranks higher?
"unterschiedlichen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,221 in our German list, against #42,213 for "unterschiedliches". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "unterschiedlichen" and "unterschiedliches" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "unterschiedlichen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "unterschiedliches" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,386,311 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "unterschiedlichen" and "unterschiedliches" 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 #1,386,311 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