verbindlichvsverbindlicheTell them apart

Which to use

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

#15,506
“verbindlich” frequency rank
#18,420
“verbindliche” frequency rank
33926
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature verbindlich verbindliche
Definition in der Begegnung mit anderen Menschen, Dingen, Ereignissen positiv eingestellt; entgegenkommend, freundlich Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs verbindlich

Where the eye mixes verbindlich and verbindliche

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 11 letters in sequence. verbindlich runs 11 letters (CVCCVCCCVCC) against verbindliche's 12 (CVCCVCCCVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

11 ch
verbindlich
12 ch
verbindliche

Visual trap between verbindlich and verbindliche

A purely visual mix-up. verbindlich ([fɛɐ̯ˈbɪntlɪç]) and verbindliche ([fɛɐ̯ˈbɪntlɪçə]) 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) - “verbindlich” sits inside “verbindliche”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 33926, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

verbindlich is recorded at frequency rank #15,506, classified as anadj, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈbɪntlɪç]. verbindliche is at rank #18,420, tagged as anadj, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈbɪntlɪçə].

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 33926, this pair ranks #1,674,947 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of verbindlich vs verbindliche

Shared letters: bcdehilnrv. Private to "verbindlich": -. Private to "verbindliche": -.

"verbindlich" · 11 letters · shape CVCCVCCCVCC  ·  "verbindliche" · 12 letters · shape CVCCVCCCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • verbindlich ← evrbindlich · vebrindlich · verbbindlich · verbidnlich · verbinddlich · verbindilch · verbindlcih · verbindlicch
  • verbindliche ← evrbindliche · vebrindliche · verbbindliche · verbidnliche · verbinddliche · verbindilche · verbindlcihe · verbindlicche

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "verbindlich" and "verbindliche" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([fɛɐ̯ˈbɪntlɪç] versus [fɛɐ̯ˈbɪntlɪçə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "verbindlich" or "verbindliche"?
"verbindlich" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #15,506 in our German list, against #18,420 for "verbindliche". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "verbindlich" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "verbindliche" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,674,947 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "verbindlich" and "verbindliche" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "verbindliche vs vorbildliche". 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 #1,674,947 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