schwerwiegendvsschwerwiegendenWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

“schwerwiegend” and “schwerwiegenden” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#41,456
“schwerwiegend” frequency rank
#27,048
“schwerwiegenden” frequency rank
68504
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature schwerwiegend schwerwiegenden
Definition mit weitreichenden, meist negativen Auswirkungen Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs schwerwiegend

Where the eye mixes schwerwiegend and schwerwiegenden

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 13 letters in sequence. schwerwiegend runs 13 letters (CCCCVCCVVCVCC) against schwerwiegenden's 15 (CCCCVCCVVCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

13 ch
schwerwiegend
15 ch
schwerwiegenden

Why the eye confuses schwerwiegend with schwerwiegenden

A purely visual mix-up. schwerwiegend ([ˈʃveːɐ̯ˌviːɡn̩t]) and schwerwiegenden ([ˈʃveːɐ̯ˌviːɡn̩dən]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “schwerwiegend” sits inside “schwerwiegenden”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 68504, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

schwerwiegend is recorded at frequency rank #41,456, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈʃveːɐ̯ˌviːɡn̩t]. schwerwiegenden is at rank #27,048, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈʃveːɐ̯ˌviːɡn̩dən].

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 68504, this pair ranks #505,604 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of schwerwiegend vs schwerwiegenden

Shared letters: cdeghinrsw. Private to "schwerwiegend": -. Private to "schwerwiegenden": -.

"schwerwiegend" · 13 letters · shape CCCCVCCVVCVCC  ·  "schwerwiegenden" · 15 letters · shape CCCCVCCVVCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • schwerwiegend ← cshwerwiegend · scchwerwiegend · schewrwiegend · schhwerwiegend · schweriwegend · schwerrwiegend · schwerweigend · schwerwieegnd
  • schwerwiegenden ← cshwerwiegenden · scchwerwiegenden · schewrwiegenden · schhwerwiegenden · schweriwegenden · schwerrwiegenden · schwerweigenden · schwerwieegnden

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "schwerwiegend" for "schwerwiegenden" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈʃveːɐ̯ˌviːɡn̩t] versus [ˈʃveːɐ̯ˌviːɡn̩dən]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "schwerwiegend" vs "schwerwiegenden" - which ranks higher?
"schwerwiegenden" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #27,048 in our German list, against #41,456 for "schwerwiegend". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "schwerwiegend" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "schwerwiegenden" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #505,604 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "schwerwiegend" and "schwerwiegenden" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "schwerwiegend vs schwerwiegender". 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 #505,604 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