wirtschaftlichvswirtschaftlicheWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#4,669
“wirtschaftlich” frequency rank
#3,223
“wirtschaftliche” frequency rank
7892
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature wirtschaftlich wirtschaftliche
Definition die Wirtschaft, eine Volks- oder Betriebswirtschaft betreffend; ökonomisch Nominativ Singular Femininum Positiv der starken Flexion des Adjektivs wirtschaftlich

Where the eye mixes wirtschaftlich and wirtschaftliche

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 14 letters in sequence. wirtschaftlich runs 14 letters (CVCCCCCVCCCVCC) against wirtschaftliche's 15 (CVCCCCCVCCCVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

14 ch
wirtschaftlich
15 ch
wirtschaftliche

Why the eye confuses wirtschaftlich with wirtschaftliche

A purely visual mix-up. wirtschaftlich ([ˈvɪʁtʃaftlɪç]) and wirtschaftliche ([ˈvɪʁtʃaftlɪçə]) 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) - “wirtschaftlich” sits inside “wirtschaftliche”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 7892, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

wirtschaftlich is recorded at frequency rank #4,669, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈvɪʁtʃaftlɪç]. wirtschaftliche is at rank #3,223, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈvɪʁtʃaftlɪçə].

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 7892, this pair ranks #1,986,463 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of wirtschaftlich vs wirtschaftliche

Shared letters: acfhilrstw. Private to "wirtschaftlich": -. Private to "wirtschaftliche": e.

"wirtschaftlich" · 14 letters · shape CVCCCCCVCCCVCC  ·  "wirtschaftliche" · 15 letters · shape CVCCCCCVCCCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • wirtschaftlich ← iwrtschaftlich · wirrtschaftlich · wirstchaftlich · wirtcshaftlich · wirtscahftlich · wirtscchaftlich · wirtschafftlich · wirtschafltich
  • wirtschaftliche ← iwrtschaftliche · wirrtschaftliche · wirstchaftliche · wirtcshaftliche · wirtscahftliche · wirtscchaftliche · wirtschafftliche · wirtschafltiche

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "wirtschaftlich" and "wirtschaftliche" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈvɪʁtʃaftlɪç] versus [ˈvɪʁtʃaftlɪçə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "wirtschaftlich" or "wirtschaftliche" show up more?
"wirtschaftliche" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,223 in our German list, against #4,669 for "wirtschaftlich". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "wirtschaftlich" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "wirtschaftliche" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,986,463 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "wirtschaftlich" and "wirtschaftliche" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "wirtschaftlich vs wirtschaftlichem". 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 #1,986,463 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