lebendevslebenderWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#6,690
“lebende” frequency rank
#20,654
“lebender” frequency rank
27344
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature lebende lebender
Definition Nominativ Singular Femininum Positiv der starken Flexion des Adjektivs lebend Nominativ Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs lebend

Where the eye mixes lebende and lebender

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. lebende runs 7 letters (CVCVCCV) against lebender's 8 (CVCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

7 ch
lebende
8 ch
lebender

Why the eye confuses lebende with lebender

A purely visual mix-up. lebende ([ˈleːbn̩də]) and lebender ([ˈleːbn̩dɐ]) 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) - “lebende” sits inside “lebender”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 27344, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

lebende is recorded at frequency rank #6,690, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈleːbn̩də]. lebender is at rank #20,654, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈleːbn̩dɐ].

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 27344, this pair ranks #1,803,295 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of lebende vs lebender

Shared letters: bdeln. Private to "lebende": -. Private to "lebender": r.

"lebende" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCV  ·  "lebender" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • lebende ← elbende · lbeende · lebbende · lebedne · lebendde · lebened · lebennde · lebnede
  • lebender ← elbender · lbeender · lebbender · lebedner · lebendder · lebenderr · lebendre · lebenedr

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "lebende" and "lebender" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈleːbn̩də] versus [ˈleːbn̩dɐ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "lebende" or "lebender"?
"lebende" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,690 in our German list, against #20,654 for "lebender". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "lebende" and "lebender" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "lebende" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "lebender" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,803,295 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "lebende" and "lebender" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lebender vs liegender". 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 #1,803,295 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