steigendevssteigendenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#8,283
“steigende” frequency rank
#8,131
“steigenden” frequency rank
16414
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature steigende steigenden
Definition Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Flexion des Adjektivs steigend Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs steigend

Where the eye mixes steigende and steigenden

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence. steigende runs 9 letters (CCVVCVCCV) against steigenden's 10 (CCVVCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

9 ch
steigende
10 ch
steigenden

Why the eye confuses steigende with steigenden

A purely visual mix-up. steigende ([ˈʃtaɪ̯ɡn̩də]) and steigenden ([ˈʃtaɪ̯ɡn̩dən]) 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) - “steigende” sits inside “steigenden”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 16414, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

steigende is recorded at frequency rank #8,283, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈʃtaɪ̯ɡn̩də]. steigenden is at rank #8,131, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈʃtaɪ̯ɡn̩dən].

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 16414, this pair ranks #1,936,056 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of steigende vs steigenden

Shared letters: deginst. Private to "steigende": -. Private to "steigenden": -.

"steigende" · 9 letters · shape CCVVCVCCV  ·  "steigenden" · 10 letters · shape CCVVCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • steigende ← setigende · ssteigende · stegiende · steiegnde · steigedne · steigendde · steigened · steigennde
  • steigenden ← setigenden · ssteigenden · stegienden · steiegnden · steigednen · steigendden · steigendenn · steigendne

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "steigende" for "steigenden" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈʃtaɪ̯ɡn̩də] versus [ˈʃtaɪ̯ɡn̩dən]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "steigende" or "steigenden"?
"steigenden" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,131 in our German list, against #8,283 for "steigende". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Eye-level mix-up between "steigende" and "steigenden" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "steigende" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "steigenden" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,936,056 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "steigende" and "steigenden" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "steigenden vs Streikenden". 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 #1,936,056 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