Which to use
“springen” is a verb and “springende” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #4,306
- “springen” frequency rank
- #44,240
- “springende” frequency rank
- 48546
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | springen | springende |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | hochschnellen und sich ein kurzes Stück durch die Luft bewegen | Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs springend |
Where the eye mixes springen and springende
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between springen and springende
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: springen is [ˈʃpʁɪŋən] while springende is [ˈʃpʁɪŋəndə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “springen” sits inside “springende”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 48546, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
springen is recorded at frequency rank #4,306, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈʃpʁɪŋən]. springende is at rank #44,240, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈʃpʁɪŋəndə].
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 48546, this pair ranks #1,244,533 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of springen vs springende
Shared letters: eginprs. Private to "springen": -. Private to "springende": d.
"springen" · 8 letters · shape CCCVCCVC · "springende" · 10 letters · shape CCCVCCVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- springen ← psringen · spirngen · sppringen · sprignen · sprinegn · springenn · springgen · springne
- springende ← psringende · spirngende · sppringende · sprignende · sprinegnde · springedne · springendde · springened
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "springen" for "springende" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "springen" or "springende" show up more?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "springen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "springende" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,244,533 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "springen" and "springende" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "singende vs springende". 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 #1,244,533 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.