willkürlichevswillkürlichenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#26,247
“willkürliche” frequency rank
#35,557
“willkürlichen” frequency rank
61804
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature willkürliche willkürlichen
Definition Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs willkürlich Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs willkürlich

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set willkürliche and willkürlichen apart are highlighted. They share 12 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

12 ch
willkürliche
13 ch
willkürlichen

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. willkürliche ([ˈvɪlˌkyːɐ̯lɪçə]) and willkürlichen ([ˈvɪlˌkyːɐ̯lɪçn̩]) 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) - “willkürliche” sits inside “willkürlichen”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 61804, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

willkürliche is recorded at frequency rank #26,247, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈvɪlˌkyːɐ̯lɪçə]. willkürlichen is at rank #35,557, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈvɪlˌkyːɐ̯lɪçn̩].

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 61804, this pair ranks #736,069 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of willkürliche vs willkürlichen

Shared letters: cehiklrwü. Private to "willkürliche": -. Private to "willkürlichen": n.

"willkürliche" · 12 letters · shape CVCCCVCCVCCV  ·  "willkürlichen" · 13 letters · shape CVCCCVCCVCCVC

Frequency comparison

willkürliche#26,247
willkürlichen#35,557

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "willkürliche" and "willkürlichen" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈvɪlˌkyːɐ̯lɪçə] versus [ˈvɪlˌkyːɐ̯lɪçn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "willkürliche" or "willkürlichen"?
"willkürliche" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #26,247 in our German list, against #35,557 for "willkürlichen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering willkürliche vs willkürlichen

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “willkürliche” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list