anstrengendenvsanstrengenderWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#22,620
“anstrengenden” frequency rank
#29,925
“anstrengender” frequency rank
52545
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature anstrengenden anstrengender
Definition Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs anstrengend Nominativ Singular Maskulinum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs anstrengend

Where the eye mixes anstrengenden and anstrengender

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 12 letters in sequence. anstrengenden and anstrengender follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCCCCVCCVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

13 ch
anstrengenden
13 ch
anstrengender

Why the eye confuses anstrengenden with anstrengender

A purely visual mix-up. anstrengenden ([ˈanˌʃtʁɛŋəndn̩]) and anstrengender ([ˈanˌʃtʁɛŋəndɐ]) 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 a single letter - n in “anstrengenden” becomes r in “anstrengender”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 52545, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

anstrengenden is recorded at frequency rank #22,620, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈanˌʃtʁɛŋəndn̩]. anstrengender is at rank #29,925, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈanˌʃtʁɛŋəndɐ].

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 52545, this pair ranks #1,092,571 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of anstrengenden vs anstrengender

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

"anstrengenden" · 13 letters · shape VCCCCVCCVCCVC  ·  "anstrengender" · 13 letters · shape VCCCCVCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • anstrengenden ← annstrengenden · ansrtengenden · ansstrengenden · ansterngenden · anstregnenden · anstrenegnden · anstrengednen · anstrengendden
  • anstrengender ← annstrengender · ansrtengender · ansstrengender · ansterngender · anstregnender · anstrenegnder · anstrengedner · anstrengendder

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "anstrengenden" for "anstrengender" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈanˌʃtʁɛŋəndn̩] versus [ˈanˌʃtʁɛŋəndɐ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "anstrengenden" or "anstrengender"?
"anstrengenden" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #22,620 in our German list, against #29,925 for "anstrengender". 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 "anstrengenden" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "anstrengender" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,092,571 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "anstrengenden" and "anstrengender" 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 #1,092,571 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