laufendevslaufendenConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#8,240
“laufende” frequency rank
#3,669
“laufenden” frequency rank
11909
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature laufende laufenden
Definition Nominativ Singular Femininum Positiv der starken Flexion des Adjektivs laufend Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Flexion des Adjektivs laufend

Where the eye mixes laufende and laufenden

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. laufende runs 8 letters (CVVCVCCV) against laufenden's 9 (CVVCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

8 ch
laufende
9 ch
laufenden

Look-alike desk: laufende vs laufenden

A purely visual mix-up. laufende ([ˈlaʊ̯fn̩də]) and laufenden ([ˈlaʊ̯fn̩dən]) 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 1 extra letter(s) - “laufende” sits inside “laufenden”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 11909, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

laufende is recorded at frequency rank #8,240, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈlaʊ̯fn̩də]. laufenden is at rank #3,669, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈlaʊ̯fn̩dən].

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 11909, this pair ranks #1,967,277 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of laufende vs laufenden

Shared letters: adeflnu. Private to "laufende": -. Private to "laufenden": -.

"laufende" · 8 letters · shape CVVCVCCV  ·  "laufenden" · 9 letters · shape CVVCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • laufende ← alufende · lafuende · lauefnde · laufedne · laufendde · laufened · laufennde · lauffende
  • laufenden ← alufenden · lafuenden · lauefnden · laufednen · laufendden · laufendenn · laufendne · laufenedn

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "laufende" and "laufenden" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈlaʊ̯fn̩də] versus [ˈlaʊ̯fn̩dən]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "laufende" vs "laufenden" - which ranks higher?
"laufenden" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,669 in our German list, against #8,240 for "laufende". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "laufende" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "laufenden" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,967,277 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "laufende" and "laufenden" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "laufende vs laufendes". 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 #1,967,277 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