Which to use
“wirklich” and “wirkliche” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #169
- “wirklich” frequency rank
- #6,259
- “wirkliche” frequency rank
- 6428
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | wirklich | wirkliche |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | tatsächlich existierend und nicht nur in der Einbildung vorhanden seiend | Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs wirklich |
Where the eye mixes wirklich and wirkliche
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. wirklich runs 8 letters (CVCCCVCC) against wirkliche's 9 (CVCCCVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between wirklich and wirkliche
A purely visual mix-up. wirklich ([ˈvɪʁklɪç]) and wirkliche ([ˈvɪʁklɪçə]) 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) - “wirklich” sits inside “wirkliche”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 6428, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
wirklich is recorded at frequency rank #169, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈvɪʁklɪç]. wirkliche is at rank #6,259, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈvɪʁklɪçə].
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 6428, this pair ranks #1,991,671 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of wirklich vs wirkliche
Shared letters: chiklrw. Private to "wirklich": -. Private to "wirkliche": e.
"wirklich" · 8 letters · shape CVCCCVCC · "wirkliche" · 9 letters · shape CVCCCVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "wirklich" and "wirkliche" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "wirklich" or "wirkliche"?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "wirklich" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "wirkliche" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,991,671 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "wirklich" and "wirkliche" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "wirkliche vs wörtliche". 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 #1,991,671 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.