empfandenvsEmpfängernWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: empfanden is a verb, Empfängern is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“empfanden” is a verb and “Empfängern” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#38,073
“empfanden” frequency rank
#30,529
“Empfängern” frequency rank
68602
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature empfanden Empfängern
Definition 1. Person Plural Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs empfinden Dativ Plural des Substantivs Empfänger

Where the eye mixes empfanden and Empfängern

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. empfanden runs 9 letters (VCCCVCCVC) against Empfängern's 10 (VCCCVCCVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

9 ch
empfanden
10 ch
Empfängern

Look-alike desk: empfanden vs Empfängern

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: empfanden is [ɛmˈp͡fandn̩] while Empfängern is [ɛmˈp͡fɛŋɐn]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 68602, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

empfanden is recorded at frequency rank #38,073, classified as averb, pronounced [ɛmˈp͡fandn̩]. Empfängern is at rank #30,529, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ɛmˈp͡fɛŋɐn].

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 68602, this pair ranks #502,634 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of empfanden vs Empfängern

Shared letters: efmnp. Private to "empfanden": ad. Private to "Empfängern": grä.

"empfanden" · 9 letters · shape VCCCVCCVC  ·  "Empfängern" · 10 letters · shape VCCCVCCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • empfanden ← emfpanden · emmpfanden · empafnden · empfadnen · empfandden · empfandenn · empfandne · empfanedn

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "empfanden" and "Empfängern" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "empfanden" is a verb and "Empfängern" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "empfanden" or "Empfängern" show up more?
"Empfängern" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #30,529 in our German list, against #38,073 for "empfanden". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "empfanden" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Empfängern" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #502,634 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "empfanden" and "Empfängern" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "empfanden vs empfange". 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 #502,634 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