anhaltenvsanhaltendeWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: anhalten is a verb, anhaltende is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“anhalten” is a verb and “anhaltende” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#9,139
“anhalten” frequency rank
#15,553
“anhaltende” frequency rank
24692
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature anhalten anhaltende
Definition jemanden zu etwas ermahnen Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs anhaltend

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set anhalten and anhaltende apart are highlighted. They share 8 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

8 ch
anhalten
10 ch
anhaltende

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: anhalten is [ˈanˌhaltn̩] while anhaltende is [ˈanˌhaltn̩də]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “anhalten” sits inside “anhaltende”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 24692, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

anhalten is recorded at frequency rank #9,139, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈanˌhaltn̩]. anhaltende is at rank #15,553, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈanˌhaltn̩də].

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 24692, this pair ranks #1,844,070 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of anhalten vs anhaltende

Shared letters: aehlnt. Private to "anhalten": -. Private to "anhaltende": d.

"anhalten" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCCVC  ·  "anhaltende" · 10 letters · shape VCCVCCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • anhaltenahnalten · anahlten · anhaletn · anhallten · anhaltenn · anhaltne · anhaltten · anhatlen
  • anhaltendeahnaltende · anahltende · anhaletnde · anhalltende · anhaltedne · anhaltendde · anhaltened · anhaltennde

Frequency comparison

anhalten#9,139
anhaltende#15,553

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "anhalten" and "anhaltende" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "anhalten" is a verb and "anhaltende" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "anhalten" or "anhaltende"?
"anhalten" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #9,139 in our German list, against #15,553 for "anhaltende". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering anhalten vs anhaltende

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “anhalten”; for an adjective, it's “anhaltende”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “anhalten” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list