Which to use
“ansteigen” is a verb and “ansteigende” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #17,504
- “ansteigen” frequency rank
- #47,211
- “ansteigende” frequency rank
- 64715
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | ansteigen | ansteigende |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | an Höhe gewinnen, nach oben verlaufen | Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs ansteigend |
Where the eye mixes ansteigen and ansteigende
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence. ansteigen runs 9 letters (VCCCVVCVC) against ansteigende's 11 (VCCCVVCVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses ansteigen with ansteigende
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: ansteigen is [ˈanˌʃtaɪ̯ɡn̩] while ansteigende is [ˈanˌʃtaɪ̯ɡn̩də]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “ansteigen” sits inside “ansteigende”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 64715, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
ansteigen is recorded at frequency rank #17,504, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈanˌʃtaɪ̯ɡn̩]. ansteigende is at rank #47,211, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈanˌʃtaɪ̯ɡn̩də].
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 64715, this pair ranks #631,851 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of ansteigen vs ansteigende
Shared letters: aeginst. Private to "ansteigen": -. Private to "ansteigende": d.
"ansteigen" · 9 letters · shape VCCCVVCVC · "ansteigende" · 11 letters · shape VCCCVVCVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- ansteigen ← annsteigen · ansetigen · anssteigen · anstegien · ansteiegn · ansteigenn · ansteiggen · ansteigne
- ansteigende ← annsteigende · ansetigende · anssteigende · anstegiende · ansteiegnde · ansteigedne · ansteigendde · ansteigened
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "ansteigen" and "ansteigende" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "ansteigen" or "ansteigende" show up more?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "ansteigen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "ansteigende" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #631,851 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "ansteigen" and "ansteigende" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ansteckende vs ansteigende". 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 #631,851 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.