Which to use
“wirklich” and “wirklichen” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #169
- “wirklich” frequency rank
- #7,696
- “wirklichen” frequency rank
- 7865
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | wirklich | wirklichen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | tatsächlich existierend und nicht nur in der Einbildung vorhanden seiend | Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs wirklich |
Where the eye mixes wirklich and wirklichen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. wirklich runs 8 letters (CVCCCVCC) against wirklichen's 10 (CVCCCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between wirklich and wirklichen
A purely visual mix-up. wirklich ([ˈvɪʁklɪç]) and wirklichen ([ˈvɪʁklɪçn̩]) 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) - “wirklich” sits inside “wirklichen”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 7865, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
wirklich is recorded at frequency rank #169, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈvɪʁklɪç]. wirklichen is at rank #7,696, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈvɪʁklɪçn̩].
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 7865, this pair ranks #1,986,577 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of wirklich vs wirklichen
Shared letters: chiklrw. Private to "wirklich": -. Private to "wirklichen": en.
"wirklich" · 8 letters · shape CVCCCVCC · "wirklichen" · 10 letters · shape CVCCCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- wirklich ← iwrklich · wikrlich · wirkilch · wirkklich · wirklcih · wirklicch · wirklichh · wirklihc
- wirklichen ← iwrklichen · wikrlichen · wirkilchen · wirkklichen · wirklcihen · wirklicchen · wirklicehn · wirklichenn
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "wirklich" and "wirklichen" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary German text, does "wirklich" or "wirklichen" show up more?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "wirklich" and "wirklichen" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "wirklich" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "wirklichen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,986,577 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "wirklich" and "wirklichen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Willich vs wirklich". 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 #1,986,577 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.