führenvsführendWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: führen is a verb, führend is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“führen” is a verb and “führend” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#634
“führen” frequency rank
#21,975
“führend” frequency rank
22609
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature führen führend
Definition in eine Richtung geleiten, zum Beispiel, indem man nahe neben jemandem geht oder ihn sogar dabei berührt und ihm hilft einen Weg zu finden, den er sonst schwer hätte zu finden das Geschehen bestimmend

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set führen and führend apart are highlighted. They share 6 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
führen
7 ch
führend

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

führen and führend form a confusable pair in the German index, two distinct headwords that are easily confused because they look alike, sound alike, or both. They differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “führen” sits inside “führend” - close enough that the eye skips over the difference, far enough that meaning fully diverges. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 22609, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

führen is recorded at frequency rank #634, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈfyːʁən]. führend is at rank #21,975, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈfyːʁənt].

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 22609, this pair ranks #1,872,066 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Frequency comparison

führen#634
führend#21,975

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "führen" and "führend" be used interchangeably?
No, "führen" and "führend" 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 führen vs führend

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “führen”; for an adjective, it's “führend”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “führen” 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