zugänglichvszugänglicheWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#4,091
“zugänglich” frequency rank
#25,003
“zugängliche” frequency rank
29094
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature zugänglich zugängliche
Definition einen Zugang besitzend, so dass man eintreten und ein eventuelles dortiges Angebot nutzen kann Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs zugänglich

Where the eye mixes zugänglich and zugängliche

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 10 letters in sequence. zugänglich runs 10 letters (CVCVCCCVCC) against zugängliche's 11 (CVCVCCCVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

10 ch
zugänglich
11 ch
zugängliche

Why the eye confuses zugänglich with zugängliche

A purely visual mix-up. zugänglich ([ˈt͡suːˌɡɛŋlɪç]) and zugängliche ([ˈt͡suːˌɡɛŋlɪçə]) 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) - “zugänglich” sits inside “zugängliche”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 29094, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

zugänglich is recorded at frequency rank #4,091, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈt͡suːˌɡɛŋlɪç]. zugängliche is at rank #25,003, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈt͡suːˌɡɛŋlɪçə].

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 29094, this pair ranks #1,773,144 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of zugänglich vs zugängliche

Shared letters: cghilnuzä. Private to "zugänglich": -. Private to "zugängliche": e.

"zugänglich" · 10 letters · shape CVCVCCCVCC  ·  "zugängliche" · 11 letters · shape CVCVCCCVCCV

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "zugänglich" and "zugängliche" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈt͡suːˌɡɛŋlɪç] versus [ˈt͡suːˌɡɛŋlɪçə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "zugänglich" or "zugängliche"?
"zugänglich" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,091 in our German list, against #25,003 for "zugängliche". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "zugänglich" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "zugängliche" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,773,144 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "zugänglich" and "zugängliche" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "zugängliche vs zugänglicher". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #1,773,144 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