Which to use
“erwarten” is a verb and “erwartende” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #1,127
- “erwarten” frequency rank
- #31,532
- “erwartende” frequency rank
- 32659
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | erwarten | erwartende |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | auf jemanden oder etwas warten, dem Eintreffen von etwas entgegensehen; denken, dass etwas kommen oder passieren wird | Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs erwartend |
Where the eye mixes erwarten and erwartende
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. erwarten runs 8 letters (VCCVCCVC) against erwartende's 10 (VCCVCCVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: erwarten vs erwartende
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: erwarten is [ɛɐ̯ˈvaʁtn̩] while erwartende is [ɛɐ̯ˈvaʁtn̩də]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “erwarten” sits inside “erwartende”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 32659, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
erwarten is recorded at frequency rank #1,127, classified as averb, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈvaʁtn̩]. erwartende is at rank #31,532, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈvaʁtn̩də].
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 32659, this pair ranks #1,702,865 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of erwarten vs erwartende
Shared letters: aenrtw. Private to "erwarten": -. Private to "erwartende": d.
"erwarten" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCCVC · "erwartende" · 10 letters · shape VCCVCCVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- erwarten ← erawrten · errwarten · erwaretn · erwarrten · erwartenn · erwartne · erwartten · erwatren
- erwartende ← erawrtende · errwartende · erwaretnde · erwarrtende · erwartedne · erwartendde · erwartened · erwartennde
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "erwarten" and "erwartende" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "erwarten" or "erwartende"?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "erwarten" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "erwartende" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,702,865 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "erwarten" and "erwartende" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "erhärtet vs erwarten". 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 #1,702,865 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.