Which to use
“schleppen” is a verb and “schleppend” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #14,922
- “schleppen” frequency rank
- #34,898
- “schleppend” frequency rank
- 49820
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | schleppen | schleppend |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | schwer tragen, so dass man sich sehr dabei anstrengt | ein Vorgang, der nur langsam vor sich geht |
Where the eye mixes schleppen and schleppend
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence. schleppen runs 9 letters (CCCCVCCVC) against schleppend's 10 (CCCCVCCVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: schleppen vs schleppend
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: schleppen is [ˈʃlɛpn̩] while schleppend is [ˈʃlɛpn̩t]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “schleppen” sits inside “schleppend”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 49820, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
schleppen is recorded at frequency rank #14,922, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈʃlɛpn̩]. schleppend is at rank #34,898, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈʃlɛpn̩t].
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 49820, this pair ranks #1,197,117 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of schleppen vs schleppend
Shared letters: cehlnps. Private to "schleppen": -. Private to "schleppend": d.
"schleppen" · 9 letters · shape CCCCVCCVC · "schleppend" · 10 letters · shape CCCCVCCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- schleppen ← cshleppen · scchleppen · schelppen · schhleppen · schlepen · schlepepn · schleppenn · schleppne
- schleppend ← cshleppend · scchleppend · schelppend · schhleppend · schlepend · schlepepnd · schleppedn · schleppendd
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "schleppen" and "schleppend" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary German text, does "schleppen" or "schleppend" show up more?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "schleppen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "schleppend" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,197,117 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "schleppen" and "schleppend" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "schleppe vs schleppend". 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 #1,197,117 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.