singendevssinkendenWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#35,447
“singende” frequency rank
#22,144
“sinkenden” frequency rank
57591
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature singende sinkenden
Definition Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs singend Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Flexion des Adjektivs sinkend

Where the eye mixes singende and sinkenden

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

8 ch
singende
9 ch
sinkenden

Why the eye confuses singende with sinkenden

A purely visual mix-up. singende ([ˈzɪŋəndə]) and sinkenden ([ˈzɪŋkn̩dən]) 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 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 57591, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

singende is recorded at frequency rank #35,447, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈzɪŋəndə]. sinkenden is at rank #22,144, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈzɪŋkn̩dən].

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 57591, this pair ranks #895,520 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of singende vs sinkenden

Shared letters: deins. Private to "singende": g. Private to "sinkenden": k.

"singende" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCCV  ·  "sinkenden" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • singende ← isngende · signende · sinegnde · singedne · singendde · singened · singennde · singgende
  • sinkenden ← isnkenden · siknenden · sineknden · sinkednen · sinkendden · sinkendenn · sinkendne · sinkenedn

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "singende" and "sinkenden" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈzɪŋəndə] versus [ˈzɪŋkn̩dən]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "singende" vs "sinkenden" - which ranks higher?
"sinkenden" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #22,144 in our German list, against #35,447 for "singende". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "singende" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "sinkenden" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #895,520 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "singende" and "sinkenden" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "singende vs stinkende". 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 #895,520 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