verlässlichvsverlässlicherWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#19,437
“verlässlich” frequency rank
#37,869
“verlässlicher” frequency rank
57306
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature verlässlich verlässlicher
Definition so, dass man sich darauf verlassen kann Nominativ Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs verlässlich

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set verlässlich and verlässlicher apart are highlighted. They share 11 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

11 ch
verlässlich
13 ch
verlässlicher

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. verlässlich ([ˌfɛɐ̯ˈlɛslɪç]) and verlässlicher ([ˌfɛɐ̯ˈlɛslɪçɐ]) 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 2 extra letter(s) - “verlässlich” sits inside “verlässlicher”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 57306, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

verlässlich is recorded at frequency rank #19,437, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˌfɛɐ̯ˈlɛslɪç]. verlässlicher is at rank #37,869, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˌfɛɐ̯ˈlɛslɪçɐ].

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 57306, this pair ranks #906,408 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of verlässlich vs verlässlicher

Shared letters: cehilrsvä. Private to "verlässlich": -. Private to "verlässlicher": -.

"verlässlich" · 11 letters · shape CVCCVCCCVCC  ·  "verlässlicher" · 13 letters · shape CVCCVCCCVCCVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "verlässlich" and "verlässlicher" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˌfɛɐ̯ˈlɛslɪç] versus [ˌfɛɐ̯ˈlɛslɪçɐ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "verlässlich" or "verlässlicher"?
"verlässlich" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #19,437 in our German list, against #37,869 for "verlässlicher". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list