singenvssingendConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#2,319
“singen” frequency rank
#36,021
“singend” frequency rank
38340
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature singen singend
Definition ein Lied (oder eine Melodie) mit der eigenen Stimme hervorbringen Partizip Präsens des Verbs singen

Where the eye mixes singen and singend

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.

6 ch
singen
7 ch
singend

Why the eye confuses singen with singend

A purely visual mix-up. singen ([ˈzɪŋən]) and singend ([ˈzɪŋənt]) 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 1 extra letter(s) - “singen” sits inside “singend”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 38340, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

singen is recorded at frequency rank #2,319, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈzɪŋən]. singend is at rank #36,021, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈzɪŋənt].

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 38340, this pair ranks #1,566,523 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of singen vs singend

Shared letters: egins. Private to "singen": -. Private to "singend": d.

"singen" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "singend" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • singenisngen · signen · sinegn · singenn · singgen · singne · sinngen · snigen
  • singendisngend · signend · sinegnd · singedn · singendd · singennd · singgend · singned

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "singen" and "singend" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈzɪŋən] versus [ˈzɪŋənt]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "singen" or "singend" show up more?
"singen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,319 in our German list, against #36,021 for "singend". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Useful next steps

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "singen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "singend" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,566,523 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "singen" and "singend" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "singend vs singenden". 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 #1,566,523 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