Which to use
“empfanden” and “empfingen” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #38,073
- “empfanden” frequency rank
- #34,066
- “empfingen” frequency rank
- 72139
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | empfanden | empfingen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 1. Person Plural Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs empfinden | 1. Person Plural Präteritum Indikativ des Verbs empfangen |
Where the eye mixes empfanden and empfingen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. empfanden and empfingen follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCCCVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Visual trap between empfanden and empfingen
A purely visual mix-up. empfanden ([ɛmˈp͡fandn̩]) and empfingen ([ɛmˈp͡fɪŋən]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 72139, 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]. empfingen is at rank #34,066, tagged as averb, pronounced [ɛmˈp͡fɪŋən].
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 72139, this pair ranks #396,717 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of empfanden vs empfingen
Shared letters: efmnp. Private to "empfanden": ad. Private to "empfingen": gi.
"empfanden" · 9 letters · shape VCCCVCCVC · "empfingen" · 9 letters · shape VCCCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "empfanden" for "empfingen" ever safe?
Frequency check: "empfanden" vs "empfingen" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "empfanden" and "empfingen" 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 "empfingen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #396,717 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "empfanden" and "empfingen" 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 #396,717 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.