Which to use
“aufwenden” is a verb and “aufwendig” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #36,801
- “aufwenden” frequency rank
- #11,170
- “aufwendig” frequency rank
- 47971
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | aufwenden | aufwendig |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | etwas, meist um ein Ziel zu erreichen, verwenden oder einsetzen | mit großem Aufwand oder Einsatz verbunden |
Where the eye mixes aufwenden and aufwendig
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. aufwenden and aufwendig follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VVCCVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Visual trap between aufwenden and aufwendig
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: aufwenden is [ˈaʊ̯fˌvɛndn̩] while aufwendig is [ˈaʊ̯fˌvɛndɪç]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 47971, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
aufwenden is recorded at frequency rank #36,801, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈaʊ̯fˌvɛndn̩]. aufwendig is at rank #11,170, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈaʊ̯fˌvɛndɪç].
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 47971, this pair ranks #1,265,436 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of aufwenden vs aufwendig
Shared letters: adefnuw. Private to "aufwenden": -. Private to "aufwendig": gi.
"aufwenden" · 9 letters · shape VVCCVCCVC · "aufwendig" · 9 letters · shape VVCCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "aufwenden" and "aufwendig" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "aufwenden" or "aufwendig"?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "aufwenden" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "aufwendig" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,265,436 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "aufwenden" and "aufwendig" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "aufwenden vs aussenden". 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 #1,265,436 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.