anstrengendvsanstrengendenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#6,037
“anstrengend” frequency rank
#22,620
“anstrengenden” frequency rank
28657
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature anstrengend anstrengenden
Definition Anstrengung erfordernd, mühsam Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs anstrengend

Where the eye mixes anstrengend and anstrengenden

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 11 letters in sequence. anstrengend runs 11 letters (VCCCCVCCVCC) against anstrengenden's 13 (VCCCCVCCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

11 ch
anstrengend
13 ch
anstrengenden

Look-alike desk: anstrengend vs anstrengenden

A purely visual mix-up. anstrengend ([ˈanˌʃtʁɛŋənt]) and anstrengenden ([ˈanˌʃtʁɛŋəndn̩]) 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) - “anstrengend” sits inside “anstrengenden”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 28657, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

anstrengend is recorded at frequency rank #6,037, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈanˌʃtʁɛŋənt]. anstrengenden is at rank #22,620, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈanˌʃtʁɛŋəndn̩].

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 28657, this pair ranks #1,780,879 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of anstrengend vs anstrengenden

Shared letters: adegnrst. Private to "anstrengend": -. Private to "anstrengenden": -.

"anstrengend" · 11 letters · shape VCCCCVCCVCC  ·  "anstrengenden" · 13 letters · shape VCCCCVCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • anstrengend ← annstrengend · ansrtengend · ansstrengend · ansterngend · anstregnend · anstrenegnd · anstrengedn · anstrengendd
  • anstrengenden ← annstrengenden · ansrtengenden · ansstrengenden · ansterngenden · anstregnenden · anstrenegnden · anstrengednen · anstrengendden

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "anstrengend" and "anstrengenden" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈanˌʃtʁɛŋənt] versus [ˈanˌʃtʁɛŋəndn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "anstrengend" or "anstrengenden" show up more?
"anstrengend" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,037 in our German list, against #22,620 for "anstrengenden". 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 "anstrengend" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "anstrengenden" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,780,879 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "anstrengend" and "anstrengenden" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ansteigenden vs anstrengenden". 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 #1,780,879 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