ReisendevsreizendenWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: Reisende is a noun, reizenden is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Reisende” is a noun and “reizenden” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#8,615
“Reisende” frequency rank
#43,440
“reizenden” frequency rank
52055
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Reisende reizenden
Definition weibliche Person, die eine Reise unternimmt Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs reizend

Where the eye mixes Reisende and reizenden

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

8 ch
Reisende
9 ch
reizenden

Why the eye confuses Reisende with reizenden

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Reisende is [ˈʁaɪ̯zn̩də] while reizenden is [ˈʁaɪ̯t͡sn̩dən]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 52055, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Reisende is recorded at frequency rank #8,615, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈʁaɪ̯zn̩də]. reizenden is at rank #43,440, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈʁaɪ̯t͡sn̩dən].

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 52055, this pair ranks #1,111,702 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Reisende vs reizenden

Shared letters: deinr. Private to "Reisende": s. Private to "reizenden": z.

"Reisende" · 8 letters · shape CVVCVCCV  ·  "reizenden" · 9 letters · shape CVVCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Reisende ← erisende · reiesnde · reisedne · reisendde · reisened · reisennde · reisnede · reissende
  • reizenden ← erizenden · reieznden · reizednen · reizendden · reizendenn · reizendne · reizenedn · reizennden

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Reisende" for "reizenden" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Reisende" is a noun and "reizenden" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "Reisende" vs "reizenden" - which ranks higher?
"Reisende" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,615 in our German list, against #43,440 for "reizenden". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Eye-level mix-up between "Reisende" and "reizenden" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Reisende" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "reizenden" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,111,702 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Reisende" and "reizenden" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "reizend vs reizenden". 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 #1,111,702 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