Which to use
“aufwendig” and “aufwendige” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #11,170
- “aufwendig” frequency rank
- #23,024
- “aufwendige” frequency rank
- 34194
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | aufwendig | aufwendige |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | mit großem Aufwand oder Einsatz verbunden | Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs aufwendig |
Where the eye mixes aufwendig and aufwendige
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence. aufwendig runs 9 letters (VVCCVCCVC) against aufwendige's 10 (VVCCVCCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses aufwendig with aufwendige
A purely visual mix-up. aufwendig ([ˈaʊ̯fˌvɛndɪç]) and aufwendige ([ˈaʊ̯fˌvɛndɪɡə]) 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 1 extra letter(s) - “aufwendig” sits inside “aufwendige”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 34194, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
aufwendig is recorded at frequency rank #11,170, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈaʊ̯fˌvɛndɪç]. aufwendige is at rank #23,024, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈaʊ̯fˌvɛndɪɡə].
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 34194, this pair ranks #1,668,950 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of aufwendig vs aufwendige
Shared letters: adefginuw. Private to "aufwendig": -. Private to "aufwendige": -.
"aufwendig" · 9 letters · shape VVCCVCCVC · "aufwendige" · 10 letters · shape VVCCVCCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- aufwendig ← afuwendig · aufewndig · auffwendig · aufwednig · aufwenddig · aufwendgi · aufwendigg · aufwenidg
- aufwendige ← afuwendige · aufewndige · auffwendige · aufwednige · aufwenddige · aufwendgie · aufwendieg · aufwendigge
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "aufwendig" for "aufwendige" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "aufwendig" or "aufwendige" 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 "aufwendig" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "aufwendige" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,668,950 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "aufwendig" and "aufwendige" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "aufwändiger vs aufwendige". 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 #1,668,950 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.