ablehnenvsablehnendWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#7,856
“ablehnen” frequency rank
#29,900
“ablehnend” frequency rank
37756
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ablehnen ablehnend
Definition zu etwas nein sagen; etwas zurückweisen oder missbilligen Partizip Präsens des Verbs ablehnen

Where the eye mixes ablehnen and ablehnend

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. ablehnen runs 8 letters (VCCVCCVC) against ablehnend's 9 (VCCVCCVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

8 ch
ablehnen
9 ch
ablehnend

Look-alike desk: ablehnen vs ablehnend

A purely visual mix-up. ablehnen ([ˈapˌleːnən]) 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 1 extra letter(s) - “ablehnen” sits inside “ablehnend”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 37756, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ablehnen is recorded at frequency rank #7,856, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈapˌleːnən]. 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 37756, this pair ranks #1,581,846 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of ablehnen vs ablehnend

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

"ablehnen" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCCVC  ·  "ablehnend" · 9 letters · shape VCCVCCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • ablehnen ← abblehnen · abelhnen · ablehenn · ablehhnen · ablehnenn · ablehnne · ablehnnen · ablenhen
  • ablehnend ← abblehnend · abelhnend · ablehennd · ablehhnend · ablehnedn · ablehnendd · ablehnennd · ablehnned

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "ablehnen" for "ablehnend" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈapˌleːnən] versus [ˈapˌleːnənt]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "ablehnen" or "ablehnend"?
"ablehnen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,856 in our German list, against #29,900 for "ablehnend". 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 "ablehnen" 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 #1,581,846 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "ablehnen" and "ablehnend" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ablehnend 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 #1,581,846 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