verbleibenvsverbleibendeWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#13,259
“verbleiben” frequency rank
#24,973
“verbleibende” frequency rank
38232
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature verbleiben verbleibende
Definition sich auf etwas verständigen Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs verbleibend

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set verbleiben and verbleibende apart are highlighted. They share 10 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

10 ch
verbleiben
12 ch
verbleibende

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: verbleiben is [fɛɐ̯ˈblaɪ̯bn̩] while verbleibende is [fɛɐ̯ˈblaɪ̯bn̩də]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “verbleiben” sits inside “verbleibende”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 38232, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

verbleiben is recorded at frequency rank #13,259, classified as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈblaɪ̯bn̩]. verbleibende is at rank #24,973, tagged as anadj, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈblaɪ̯bn̩də].

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 38232, this pair ranks #1,569,344 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of verbleiben vs verbleibende

Shared letters: beilnrv. Private to "verbleiben": -. Private to "verbleibende": d.

"verbleiben" · 10 letters · shape CVCCCVVCVC  ·  "verbleibende" · 12 letters · shape CVCCCVVCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • verbleibenevrbleiben · vebrleiben · verbbleiben · verbeliben · verblebien · verbleibben · verbleibenn · verbleibne
  • verbleibendeevrbleibende · vebrleibende · verbbleibende · verbelibende · verblebiende · verbleibbende · verbleibedne · verbleibendde

Frequency comparison

verbleiben#13,259
verbleibende#24,973

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "verbleiben" and "verbleibende" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "verbleiben" is a verb and "verbleibende" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "verbleiben" or "verbleibende"?
"verbleiben" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #13,259 in our German list, against #24,973 for "verbleibende". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering verbleiben vs verbleibende

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “verbleiben”; for an adjective, it's “verbleibende”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “verbleiben” 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