empfindevsempfingenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#10,262
“empfinde” frequency rank
#34,066
“empfingen” frequency rank
44328
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature empfinde empfingen
Definition 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs empfinden 1. Person Plural Präteritum Indikativ des Verbs empfangen

Where the eye mixes empfinde and empfingen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence.

8 ch
empfinde
9 ch
empfingen

Visual trap between empfinde and empfingen

A purely visual mix-up. empfinde ([ɛmˈp͡fɪndə]) 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 differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 44328, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

empfinde is recorded at frequency rank #10,262, classified as averb, pronounced [ɛmˈp͡fɪndə]. 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 44328, this pair ranks #1,389,789 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of empfinde vs empfingen

Shared letters: efimnp. Private to "empfinde": d. Private to "empfingen": g.

"empfinde" · 8 letters · shape VCCCVCCV  ·  "empfingen" · 9 letters · shape VCCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • empfindeemfpinde · emmpfinde · empffinde · empfidne · empfindde · empfined · empfinnde · empfnide
  • empfingenemfpingen · emmpfingen · empffingen · empfignen · empfinegn · empfingenn · empfinggen · empfingne

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "empfinde" and "empfingen" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ɛmˈp͡fɪndə] versus [ɛmˈp͡fɪŋən]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "empfinde" or "empfingen"?
"empfinde" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,262 in our German list, against #34,066 for "empfingen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "empfinde" 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 #1,389,789 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "empfinde" and "empfingen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "empfange vs empfingen". 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 #1,389,789 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