wandelnvswandelndeWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#18,124
“wandeln” frequency rank
#45,035
“wandelnde” frequency rank
63159
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature wandeln wandelnde
Definition ziellos umhergehen Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs wandelnd

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set wandeln and wandelnde apart are highlighted. They share 7 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch
wandeln
9 ch
wandelnde

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: wandeln is [ˈvandl̩n] while wandelnde is [ˈvandl̩ndə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “wandeln” sits inside “wandelnde”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 63159, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

wandeln is recorded at frequency rank #18,124, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈvandl̩n]. wandelnde is at rank #45,035, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈvandl̩ndə].

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 63159, this pair ranks #686,679 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of wandeln vs wandelnde

Shared letters: adelnw. Private to "wandeln": -. Private to "wandelnde": -.

"wandeln" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCC  ·  "wandelnde" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • wandelnawndeln · wadneln · wanddeln · wandelln · wandelnn · wandenl · wandlen · wanedln
  • wandelndeawndelnde · wadnelnde · wanddelnde · wandeldne · wandellnde · wandelndde · wandelned · wandelnnde

Frequency comparison

wandeln#18,124
wandelnde#45,035

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "wandeln" and "wandelnde" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "wandeln" is a verb and "wandelnde" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "wandeln" or "wandelnde"?
"wandeln" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #18,124 in our German list, against #45,035 for "wandelnde". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering wandeln vs wandelnde

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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