heilenvsheilendeWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#7,930
“heilen” frequency rank
#41,235
“heilende” frequency rank
49165
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature heilen heilende
Definition jemanden gesund machen, eine Krankheit, ein Leiden beseitigen, heil machen Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs heilend

Where the spellings diverge

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

6 ch
heilen
8 ch
heilende

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: heilen is [ˈhaɪ̯lən] while heilende is [ˈhaɪ̯ləndə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “heilen” sits inside “heilende”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 49165, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

heilen is recorded at frequency rank #7,930, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈhaɪ̯lən]. heilende is at rank #41,235, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈhaɪ̯ləndə].

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 49165, this pair ranks #1,221,713 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of heilen vs heilende

Shared letters: ehiln. Private to "heilen": -. Private to "heilende": d.

"heilen" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC  ·  "heilende" · 8 letters · shape CVVCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • heilenehilen · heieln · heilenn · heillen · heilne · helien · hheilen · hielen
  • heilendeehilende · heielnde · heiledne · heilendde · heilened · heilennde · heillende · heilnede

Frequency comparison

heilen#7,930
heilende#41,235

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "heilen" and "heilende" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "heilen" is a verb and "heilende" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "heilen" or "heilende"?
"heilen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,930 in our German list, against #41,235 for "heilende". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering heilen vs heilende

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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