tanzenvstanzendeWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: tanzen is a verb, tanzende is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“tanzen” is a verb and “tanzende” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#3,281
“tanzen” frequency rank
#40,884
“tanzende” frequency rank
44165
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature tanzen tanzende
Definition sich rhythmisch bewegen, meist zu Musik Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs tanzend

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set tanzen and tanzende apart are highlighted. They share 6 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
tanzen
8 ch
tanzende

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: tanzen is [ˈtant͡sn̩] while tanzende is [ˈtant͡sn̩də]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “tanzen” sits inside “tanzende”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 44165, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

tanzen is recorded at frequency rank #3,281, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈtant͡sn̩]. tanzende is at rank #40,884, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈtant͡sn̩də].

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 44165, this pair ranks #1,394,899 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of tanzen vs tanzende

Shared letters: aentz. Private to "tanzen": -. Private to "tanzende": d.

"tanzen" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "tanzende" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • tanzenatnzen · tanezn · tannzen · tanzenn · tanzne · tanzzen · taznen · tnazen
  • tanzendeatnzende · taneznde · tannzende · tanzedne · tanzendde · tanzened · tanzennde · tanznede

Frequency comparison

tanzen#3,281
tanzende#40,884

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "tanzen" and "tanzende" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "tanzen" is a verb and "tanzende" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "tanzen" or "tanzende"?
"tanzen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,281 in our German list, against #40,884 for "tanzende". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering tanzen vs tanzende

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “tanzen”; for an adjective, it's “tanzende”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “tanzen” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list