Which to use
“abweichen” is a verb and “abweichende” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #13,757
- “abweichen” frequency rank
- #15,019
- “abweichende” frequency rank
- 28776
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | abweichen | abweichende |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | sich von einer Norm oder Regularität unterscheiden | Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs abweichend |
Where the eye mixes abweichen and abweichende
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses abweichen with abweichende
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: abweichen is [ˈapˌvaɪ̯çn̩] while abweichende is [ˈapˌvaɪ̯çn̩də]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “abweichen” sits inside “abweichende”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 28776, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
abweichen is recorded at frequency rank #13,757, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈapˌvaɪ̯çn̩]. abweichende is at rank #15,019, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈapˌvaɪ̯çn̩də].
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 28776, this pair ranks #1,778,818 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of abweichen vs abweichende
Shared letters: abcehinw. Private to "abweichen": -. Private to "abweichende": d.
"abweichen" · 9 letters · shape VCCVVCCVC · "abweichende" · 11 letters · shape VCCVVCCVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- abweichen ← abbweichen · abewichen · abwecihen · abweicchen · abweicehn · abweichenn · abweichhen · abweichne
- abweichende ← abbweichende · abewichende · abwecihende · abweicchende · abweicehnde · abweichedne · abweichendde · abweichened
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "abweichen" for "abweichende" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "abweichen" or "abweichende" show up more?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "abweichen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "abweichende" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,778,818 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "abweichen" and "abweichende" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "abgewichen vs abweichen". 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 #1,778,818 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.