regierenvsregierendeWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: regieren is a verb, regierende is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

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

#8,126
“regieren” frequency rank
#26,143
“regierende” frequency rank
34269
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature regieren regierende
Definition die Herrschaft ausüben, die Macht haben Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs regierend

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set regieren and regierende apart are highlighted. They share 8 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

8 ch
regieren
10 ch
regierende

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: regieren is [ʁeˈɡiːʁən] while regierende is [ʁeˈɡiːʁəndə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “regieren” sits inside “regierende”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 34269, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

regieren is recorded at frequency rank #8,126, classified as averb, pronounced [ʁeˈɡiːʁən]. regierende is at rank #26,143, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ʁeˈɡiːʁəndə].

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 34269, this pair ranks #1,667,174 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of regieren vs regierende

Shared letters: eginr. Private to "regieren": -. Private to "regierende": d.

"regieren" · 8 letters · shape CVCVVCVC  ·  "regierende" · 10 letters · shape CVCVVCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • regierenergieren · regeiren · reggieren · regieern · regierenn · regierne · regierren · regireen
  • regierendeergierende · regeirende · reggierende · regieernde · regieredne · regierendde · regierened · regierennde

Frequency comparison

regieren#8,126
regierende#26,143

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "regieren" and "regierende" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "regieren" is a verb and "regierende" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "regieren" or "regierende"?
"regieren" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,126 in our German list, against #26,143 for "regierende". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering regieren vs regierende

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “regieren”; for an adjective, it's “regierende”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “regieren” 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