openvsreadingWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: open is a adjective, reading is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“open” is an adjective and “reading” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#2,607
“open” frequency rank
#20,379
“reading” frequency rank
22986
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature open reading
Definition etwas ist nicht geschlossen Partizip Präsens (present participle) des Verbs read

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set open and reading apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
open
7 ch
reading

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: open is anadjective and readingaverb. On the page they differ by 3 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 22986, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

open is recorded at frequency rank #2,607, classified as anadj, pronounced […]. reading is at rank #20,379, tagged as averb, pronounced […].

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 22986, this pair ranks #1,867,181 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of open vs reading

Shared letters: en. Private to "open": op. Private to "reading": adgir.

"open" · 4 letters · shape VCVC  ·  "reading" · 7 letters · shape CVVCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • openoepn · openn · opne · oppen · poen
  • readingerading · raeding · readding · readign · readingg · readinng · readnig · reaidng

Frequency comparison

open#2,607
reading#20,379

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "open" and "reading" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "open" is an adjective and "reading" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "open" or "reading"?
"open" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,607 in our German list, against #20,379 for "reading". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering open vs reading

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “open”; for a verb, it's “reading”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “open” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list