ablehnevsablehnendTell them apart

Which to use

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

#46,442
“ablehne” frequency rank
#29,900
“ablehnend” frequency rank
76342
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ablehne ablehnend
Definition 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv der Nebensatzkonjugation des Verbs ablehnen Partizip Präsens des Verbs ablehnen

Where the eye mixes ablehne and ablehnend

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. ablehne runs 7 letters (VCCVCCV) against ablehnend's 9 (VCCVCCVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

7 ch
ablehne
9 ch
ablehnend

Look-alike desk: ablehne vs ablehnend

A purely visual mix-up. ablehne ([ˈapˌleːnə]) and ablehnend ([ˈapˌleːnənt]) 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) - “ablehne” sits inside “ablehnend”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 76342, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ablehne is recorded at frequency rank #46,442, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈapˌleːnə]. ablehnend is at rank #29,900, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈapˌleːnənt].

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 76342, this pair ranks #286,149 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of ablehne vs ablehnend

Shared letters: abehln. Private to "ablehne": -. Private to "ablehnend": d.

"ablehne" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCCV  ·  "ablehnend" · 9 letters · shape VCCVCCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • ablehne ← abblehne · abelhne · ablehen · ablehhne · ablenhe · ablhene · abllehne · albehne
  • ablehnend ← abblehnend · abelhnend · ablehennd · ablehhnend · ablehnedn · ablehnendd · ablehnennd · ablehnned

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "ablehne" and "ablehnend" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈapˌleːnə] versus [ˈapˌleːnənt]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "ablehne" or "ablehnend" show up more?
"ablehnend" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #29,900 in our German list, against #46,442 for "ablehne". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "ablehne" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "ablehnend" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #286,149 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "ablehne" and "ablehnend" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ablehne vs ablehnten". 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 #286,149 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