zugänglichevszugänglicherWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#25,003
“zugängliche” frequency rank
#45,064
“zugänglicher” frequency rank
70067
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature zugängliche zugänglicher
Definition Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs zugänglich Nominativ Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs zugänglich

Where the eye mixes zugängliche and zugänglicher

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 11 letters in sequence. zugängliche runs 11 letters (CVCVCCCVCCV) against zugänglicher's 12 (CVCVCCCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

11 ch
zugängliche
12 ch
zugänglicher

Why the eye confuses zugängliche with zugänglicher

A purely visual mix-up. zugängliche ([ˈt͡suːˌɡɛŋlɪçə]) and zugänglicher ([ˈt͡suːˌɡɛŋlɪçɐ]) 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) - “zugängliche” sits inside “zugänglicher”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 70067, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

zugängliche is recorded at frequency rank #25,003, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈt͡suːˌɡɛŋlɪçə]. zugänglicher is at rank #45,064, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈt͡suːˌɡɛŋlɪçɐ].

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 70067, this pair ranks #457,478 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of zugängliche vs zugänglicher

Shared letters: ceghilnuzä. Private to "zugängliche": -. Private to "zugänglicher": r.

"zugängliche" · 11 letters · shape CVCVCCCVCCV  ·  "zugänglicher" · 12 letters · shape CVCVCCCVCCVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "zugängliche" for "zugänglicher" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈt͡suːˌɡɛŋlɪçə] versus [ˈt͡suːˌɡɛŋlɪçɐ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "zugängliche" vs "zugänglicher" - which ranks higher?
"zugängliche" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #25,003 in our German list, against #45,064 for "zugänglicher". 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 "zugängliche" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "zugänglicher" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #457,478 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "zugängliche" and "zugänglicher" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "zugänglichen vs zugänglicher". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #457,478 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