Which to use
“gehen” is a verb and “gehende” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #209
- “gehen” frequency rank
- #29,140
- “gehende” frequency rank
- 29349
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | gehen | gehende |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | sich schreitend, schrittweise fortbewegen | Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs gehend |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set gehen and gehende apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: gehen is [ˈɡeːən] while gehende is [ˈɡeːəndə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “gehen” sits inside “gehende”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 29349, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
gehen is recorded at frequency rank #209, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈɡeːən]. gehende is at rank #29,140, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈɡeːəndə].
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 29349, this pair ranks #1,768,425 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of gehen vs gehende
Shared letters: eghn. Private to "gehen": -. Private to "gehende": d.
"gehen" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "gehende" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "gehen" and "gehende" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "gehen" or "gehende"?
Remembering gehen vs gehende
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “gehen”; for an adjective, it's “gehende”.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “gehen” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable