Which to use
“packen” is a verb and “packende” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #4,546
- “packen” frequency rank
- #49,942
- “packende” frequency rank
- 54488
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | packen | packende |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | etwas zusammenlegen, zusammenfalten, wegräumen, in eine gepackte Form (Bündel, Packen, Paket) bringen, zubinden, zusammenkleben, in eine Verpackung tun | Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs packend |
Where the eye mixes packen and packende
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses packen with packende
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: packen is [ˈpakn̩] while packende is [ˈpakn̩də]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “packen” sits inside “packende”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 54488, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
packen is recorded at frequency rank #4,546, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈpakn̩]. packende is at rank #49,942, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈpakn̩də].
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 54488, this pair ranks #1,016,933 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of packen vs packende
Shared letters: aceknp. Private to "packen": -. Private to "packende": d.
"packen" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "packende" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "packen" for "packende" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "packen" or "packende" show up more?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "packen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "packende" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,016,933 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "packen" and "packende" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "packende vs parkenden". 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 #1,016,933 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.