fehlendevsfehlendenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#4,983
“fehlende” frequency rank
#6,297
“fehlenden” frequency rank
11280
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature fehlende fehlenden
Definition Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs fehlend Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs fehlend

Where the eye mixes fehlende and fehlenden

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. fehlende runs 8 letters (CVCCVCCV) against fehlenden's 9 (CVCCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

8 ch
fehlende
9 ch
fehlenden

Look-alike desk: fehlende vs fehlenden

A purely visual mix-up. fehlende ([ˈfeːləndə]) and fehlenden ([ˈfeːləndn̩]) 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) - “fehlende” sits inside “fehlenden”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 11280, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

fehlende is recorded at frequency rank #4,983, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈfeːləndə]. fehlenden is at rank #6,297, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈfeːləndn̩].

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 11280, this pair ranks #1,970,715 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of fehlende vs fehlenden

Shared letters: defhln. Private to "fehlende": -. Private to "fehlenden": -.

"fehlende" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCCV  ·  "fehlenden" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • fehlendeefhlende · fehelnde · fehhlende · fehledne · fehlendde · fehlened · fehlennde · fehllende
  • fehlendenefhlenden · fehelnden · fehhlenden · fehlednen · fehlendden · fehlendenn · fehlendne · fehlenedn

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "fehlende" and "fehlenden" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈfeːləndə] versus [ˈfeːləndn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "fehlende" or "fehlenden"?
"fehlende" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,983 in our German list, against #6,297 for "fehlenden". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "fehlende" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "fehlenden" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,970,715 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "fehlende" and "fehlenden" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "fehlendem vs fehlenden". 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 #1,970,715 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