wirtschaftlichvswirtschaftlichemConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#4,669
“wirtschaftlich” frequency rank
#42,269
“wirtschaftlichem” frequency rank
46938
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature wirtschaftlich wirtschaftlichem
Definition die Wirtschaft, eine Volks- oder Betriebswirtschaft betreffend; ökonomisch Dativ Singular Maskulinum Positiv der starken Flexion des Adjektivs wirtschaftlich

Where the eye mixes wirtschaftlich and wirtschaftlichem

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 14 letters in sequence. wirtschaftlich runs 14 letters (CVCCCCCVCCCVCC) against wirtschaftlichem's 16 (CVCCCCCVCCCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

14 ch
wirtschaftlich
16 ch
wirtschaftlichem

Why the eye confuses wirtschaftlich with wirtschaftlichem

A purely visual mix-up. wirtschaftlich ([ˈvɪʁtʃaftlɪç]) and wirtschaftlichem ([ˈvɪʁtʃaftlɪçm̩]) 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) - “wirtschaftlich” sits inside “wirtschaftlichem”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 46938, 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]. wirtschaftlichem is at rank #42,269, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈvɪʁtʃaftlɪçm̩].

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 46938, this pair ranks #1,301,815 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of wirtschaftlich vs wirtschaftlichem

Shared letters: acfhilrstw. Private to "wirtschaftlich": -. Private to "wirtschaftlichem": em.

"wirtschaftlich" · 14 letters · shape CVCCCCCVCCCVCC  ·  "wirtschaftlichem" · 16 letters · shape CVCCCCCVCCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • wirtschaftlich ← iwrtschaftlich · wirrtschaftlich · wirstchaftlich · wirtcshaftlich · wirtscahftlich · wirtscchaftlich · wirtschafftlich · wirtschafltich
  • wirtschaftlichem ← iwrtschaftlichem · wirrtschaftlichem · wirstchaftlichem · wirtcshaftlichem · wirtscahftlichem · wirtscchaftlichem · wirtschafftlichem · wirtschafltichem

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "wirtschaftlich" for "wirtschaftlichem" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈvɪʁtʃaftlɪç] versus [ˈvɪʁtʃaftlɪçm̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "wirtschaftlich" vs "wirtschaftlichem" - which ranks higher?
"wirtschaftlich" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,669 in our German list, against #42,269 for "wirtschaftlichem". 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 "wirtschaftlichem" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,301,815 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "wirtschaftlich" and "wirtschaftlichem" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "wirtschaftlichem vs wirtschaftliches". 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 #1,301,815 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