glühenvsglühendeWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#32,571
“glühen” frequency rank
#36,370
“glühende” frequency rank
68941
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature glühen glühende
Definition vor Hitze in oranger bis rötlicher Farbe leuchten Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs glühend

Where the spellings diverge

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

6 ch
glühen
8 ch
glühende

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: glühen is [ˈɡlyːən] while glühende is [ˈɡlyːəndə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “glühen” sits inside “glühende”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 68941, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

glühen is recorded at frequency rank #32,571, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈɡlyːən]. glühende is at rank #36,370, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈɡlyːəndə].

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 68941, this pair ranks #492,026 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of glühen vs glühende

Shared letters: eghlnü. Private to "glühen": -. Private to "glühende": d.

"glühen" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC  ·  "glühende" · 8 letters · shape CCVCVCCV

Frequency comparison

glühen#32,571
glühende#36,370

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "glühen" and "glühende" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "glühen" is a verb and "glühende" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "glühen" or "glühende"?
"glühen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #32,571 in our German list, against #36,370 for "glühende". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering glühen vs glühende

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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