Which to use
“führen” is a verb and “Führung” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #634
- “führen” frequency rank
- #1,593
- “Führung” frequency rank
- 2227
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | führen | Führung |
|---|---|---|
| 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 | die Handlung, der Prozess oder die Tätigkeit, ein bewegliches Objekt oder eine Person/Personengruppe zu steuern, in eine Richtung oder ein Verhalten zu weisen oder zu führen |
Where the eye mixes führen and Führung
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. führen runs 6 letters (CVCCVC) against Führung's 7 (CVCCVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: führen vs Führung
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: führen is [ˈfyːʁən] while Führung is [ˈfyːʁʊŋ]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 2227, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
führen is recorded at frequency rank #634, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈfyːʁən]. Führung is at rank #1,593, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈfyːʁʊŋ].
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 2227, this pair ranks #2,002,819 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of führen vs Führung
Shared letters: fhnrü. Private to "führen": e. Private to "Führung": gu.
"führen" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "Führung" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "führen" for "Führung" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "führen" or "Führung" show up more?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "führen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "Führung" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #2,002,819 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "führen" and "Führung" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "führen vs Führerin". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #2,002,819 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.