Which to use
“empfange” and “empfangen” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #41,770
- “empfange” frequency rank
- #3,883
- “empfangen” frequency rank
- 45653
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | empfange | empfangen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs empfangen | etwas bekommen |
Where the eye mixes empfange and empfangen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. empfange runs 8 letters (VCCCVCCV) against empfangen's 9 (VCCCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses empfange with empfangen
A purely visual mix-up. empfange ([ɛmˈp͡faŋə]) and empfangen ([ɛmˈp͡faŋən]) 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) - “empfange” sits inside “empfangen”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 45653, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
empfange is recorded at frequency rank #41,770, classified as averb, pronounced [ɛmˈp͡faŋə]. empfangen is at rank #3,883, tagged as averb, pronounced [ɛmˈp͡faŋən].
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 45653, this pair ranks #1,345,694 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of empfange vs empfangen
Shared letters: aefgmnp. Private to "empfange": -. Private to "empfangen": -.
"empfange" · 8 letters · shape VCCCVCCV · "empfangen" · 9 letters · shape VCCCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "empfange" and "empfangen" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "empfange" or "empfangen"?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "empfange" and "empfangen" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "empfange" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "empfangen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,345,694 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "empfange" and "empfangen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "empfange vs Empfängers". 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 #1,345,694 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.