hervorragendvshervorragenderTell them apart

Which to use

“hervorragend” and “hervorragender” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#5,495
“hervorragend” frequency rank
#16,451
“hervorragender” frequency rank
21946
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature hervorragend hervorragender
Definition sich deutlich vom Standard positiv abhebend, im Sinne von besonders gut Nominativ Singular Maskulinum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs hervorragend

Where the eye mixes hervorragend and hervorragender

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 12 letters in sequence. hervorragend runs 12 letters (CVCCVCCVCVCC) against hervorragender's 14 (CVCCVCCVCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

12 ch
hervorragend
14 ch
hervorragender

Why the eye confuses hervorragend with hervorragender

A purely visual mix-up. hervorragend ([hɛɐ̯ˈfoːɐ̯ˌʁaːɡn̩t]) and hervorragender ([hɛɐ̯ˈfoːɐ̯ˌʁaːɡn̩dɐ]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “hervorragend” sits inside “hervorragender”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 21946, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

hervorragend is recorded at frequency rank #5,495, classified as anadj, pronounced [hɛɐ̯ˈfoːɐ̯ˌʁaːɡn̩t]. hervorragender is at rank #16,451, tagged as anadj, pronounced [hɛɐ̯ˈfoːɐ̯ˌʁaːɡn̩dɐ].

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 21946, this pair ranks #1,880,248 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of hervorragend vs hervorragender

Shared letters: adeghnorv. Private to "hervorragend": -. Private to "hervorragender": -.

"hervorragend" · 12 letters · shape CVCCVCCVCVCC  ·  "hervorragender" · 14 letters · shape CVCCVCCVCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • hervorragend ← ehrvorragend · herovrragend · herrvorragend · hervoragend · hervorargend · hervorraegnd · hervorragedn · hervorragendd
  • hervorragender ← ehrvorragender · herovrragender · herrvorragender · hervoragender · hervorargender · hervorraegnder · hervorragedner · hervorragendder

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "hervorragend" and "hervorragender" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([hɛɐ̯ˈfoːɐ̯ˌʁaːɡn̩t] versus [hɛɐ̯ˈfoːɐ̯ˌʁaːɡn̩dɐ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "hervorragend" or "hervorragender"?
"hervorragend" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,495 in our German list, against #16,451 for "hervorragender". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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 "hervorragend" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "hervorragender" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,880,248 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "hervorragend" and "hervorragender" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "hervorragender vs hervorragendes". Nearby pair
  • Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes

Confusion rank #1,880,248 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list