Which to use
“lebende” and “lebendige” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #6,690
- “lebende” frequency rank
- #11,917
- “lebendige” frequency rank
- 18607
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | lebende | lebendige |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Nominativ Singular Femininum Positiv der starken Flexion des Adjektivs lebend | Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs lebendig |
Where the eye mixes lebende and lebendige
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. lebende runs 7 letters (CVCVCCV) against lebendige's 9 (CVCVCCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between lebende and lebendige
A purely visual mix-up. lebende ([ˈleːbn̩də]) and lebendige ([leˈbɛndɪɡə]) 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 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 18607, 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]. lebendige is at rank #11,917, tagged as anadj, pronounced [leˈbɛndɪɡə].
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 18607, this pair ranks #1,916,646 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of lebende vs lebendige
Shared letters: bdeln. Private to "lebende": -. Private to "lebendige": gi.
"lebende" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCV · "lebendige" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "lebende" for "lebendige" ever safe?
Frequency check: "lebende" vs "lebendige" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "lebende" and "lebendige" 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 "lebendige" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,916,646 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "lebende" and "lebendige" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lebendige vs lebendigem". 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 #1,916,646 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.