Which to use
“spielen” is a verb and “spielend” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #341
- “spielen” frequency rank
- #27,948
- “spielend” frequency rank
- 28289
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | spielen | spielend |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | einer zwanglosen komplexen Betätigung nachgehen, bei der der Lustgewinn im Vordergrund steht | so, dass es jemandem sehr leicht fällt, etwas zu erledigen, zu schaffen oder zu bewältigen; ohne Anstrengung, ohne Mühe, wie im Spiel |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set spielen and spielend apart are highlighted. They share 7 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
spielen and spielend form a confusable pair in the German index, two distinct headwords that are easily confused because they look alike, sound alike, or both. They differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “spielen” sits inside “spielend” - close enough that the eye skips over the difference, far enough that meaning fully diverges. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 28289, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
spielen is recorded at frequency rank #341, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈʃpiːlən]. spielend is at rank #27,948, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈʃpiːlənt].
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 28289, this pair ranks #1,787,437 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "spielen" and "spielend" be used interchangeably?
Remembering spielen vs spielend
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “spielen”; for an adjective, it's “spielend”.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “spielen” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable