EmpfängervsempfingenWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#5,477
“Empfänger” frequency rank
#34,066
“empfingen” frequency rank
39543
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Empfänger empfingen
Definition Person, die etwas empfängt, bekommt, erhält, entgegennimmt; jemand, der etwas in Empfang nimmt 1. Person Plural Präteritum Indikativ des Verbs empfangen

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set Empfänger and empfingen apart are highlighted. They share 7 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

9 ch
Empfänger
9 ch
empfingen

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Empfänger and empfingen form a confusable pair in the German index, two distinct headwords that are easily confused because they look alike, sound alike, or both. They share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions - close enough that the eye skips over the difference, far enough that meaning fully diverges. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 39543, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Empfänger is recorded at frequency rank #5,477, classified as anoun, pronounced [ɛmˈp͡fɛŋɐ]. 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 39543, this pair ranks #1,533,849 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Frequency comparison

Empfänger#5,477
empfingen#34,066

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Empfänger" and "empfingen" be used interchangeably?
No, "Empfänger" and "empfingen" have distinct meanings and cannot be swapped without changing the meaning of a sentence. Understanding the specific definition and context for each word is essential for correct usage.

Remembering Empfänger vs empfingen

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “Empfänger”; for a verb, it's “empfingen”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “Empfänger” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list