lebendenvsliegendenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#4,533
“lebenden” frequency rank
#5,008
“liegenden” frequency rank
9541
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature lebenden liegenden
Definition Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Flexion des Adjektivs lebend Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs liegend

Where the eye mixes lebenden and liegenden

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. lebenden runs 8 letters (CVCVCCVC) against liegenden's 9 (CVVCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

8 ch
lebenden
9 ch
liegenden

Visual trap between lebenden and liegenden

A purely visual mix-up. lebenden ([ˈleːbn̩dən]) and liegenden ([ˈliːɡn̩dən]) 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 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 9541, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

lebenden is recorded at frequency rank #4,533, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈleːbn̩dən]. liegenden is at rank #5,008, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈliːɡn̩dən].

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 9541, this pair ranks #1,979,445 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of lebenden vs liegenden

Shared letters: deln. Private to "lebenden": b. Private to "liegenden": gi.

"lebenden" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC  ·  "liegenden" · 9 letters · shape CVVCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • lebendenelbenden · lbeenden · lebbenden · lebednen · lebendden · lebendenn · lebendne · lebenedn
  • liegendenilegenden · leigenden · lieegnden · liegednen · liegendden · liegendenn · liegendne · liegenedn

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "lebenden" for "liegenden" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈleːbn̩dən] versus [ˈliːɡn̩dən]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "lebenden" vs "liegenden" - which ranks higher?
"lebenden" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,533 in our German list, against #5,008 for "liegenden". 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 "lebenden" and "liegenden" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "lebenden" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "liegenden" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,979,445 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "lebenden" and "liegenden" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "liegenden 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 #1,979,445 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