billigenvsbilligendTell them apart

Which to use

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

#9,338
“billigen” frequency rank
#48,784
“billigend” frequency rank
58122
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature billigen billigend
Definition etwas befürworten, begrüßen, gutheißen Partizip Präsens des Verbs billigen

Where the eye mixes billigen and billigend

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. billigen runs 8 letters (CVCCVCVC) against billigend's 9 (CVCCVCVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

8 ch
billigen
9 ch
billigend

Visual trap between billigen and billigend

A purely visual mix-up. billigen ([ˈbɪlɪɡn̩]) and billigend ([ˈbɪlɪɡn̩t]) 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) - “billigen” sits inside “billigend”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 58122, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

billigen is recorded at frequency rank #9,338, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈbɪlɪɡn̩]. billigend is at rank #48,784, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈbɪlɪɡn̩t].

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 58122, this pair ranks #874,960 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of billigen vs billigend

Shared letters: begiln. Private to "billigen": -. Private to "billigend": d.

"billigen" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC  ·  "billigend" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • billigenbbilligen · biligen · bililgen · billgien · billiegn · billigenn · billiggen · billigne
  • billigendbbilligend · biligend · bililgend · billgiend · billiegnd · billigedn · billigendd · billigennd

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "billigen" for "billigend" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈbɪlɪɡn̩] versus [ˈbɪlɪɡn̩t]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "billigen" vs "billigend" - which ranks higher?
"billigen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #9,338 in our German list, against #48,784 for "billigend". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Eye-level mix-up between "billigen" and "billigend" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "billigen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "billigend" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #874,960 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "billigen" and "billigend" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "billigem vs billigend". 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 #874,960 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