schleppenvsschleppendWhat's the difference?

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

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 spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set schleppen and schleppend apart are highlighted. They share 9 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

9 ch
schleppen
10 ch
schleppend

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

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

  • schleppencshleppen · scchleppen · schelppen · schhleppen · schlepen · schlepepn · schleppenn · schleppne
  • schleppendcshleppend · scchleppend · schelppend · schhleppend · schlepend · schlepepnd · schleppedn · schleppendd

Frequency comparison

schleppen#14,922
schleppend#34,898

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "schleppen" and "schleppend" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "schleppen" is a verb and "schleppend" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "schleppen" or "schleppend"?
"schleppen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #14,922 in our German list, against #34,898 for "schleppend". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering schleppen vs schleppend

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “schleppen”; for an adjective, it's “schleppend”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “schleppen” 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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list