Which to use
“wirken” is a verb and “wirkende” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #1,533
- “wirken” frequency rank
- #17,190
- “wirkende” frequency rank
- 18723
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | wirken | wirkende |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | tätig sein, nützlich sein, etwas schaffen, etwas vollbringen | Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs wirkend |
Where the eye mixes wirken and wirkende
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. wirken runs 6 letters (CVCCVC) against wirkende's 8 (CVCCVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between wirken and wirkende
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: wirken is [ˈvɪʁkn̩] while wirkende is [ˈvɪʁkn̩də]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “wirken” sits inside “wirkende”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 18723, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
wirken is recorded at frequency rank #1,533, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈvɪʁkn̩]. wirkende is at rank #17,190, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈvɪʁkn̩də].
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 18723, this pair ranks #1,915,507 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of wirken vs wirkende
Shared letters: eiknrw. Private to "wirken": -. Private to "wirkende": d.
"wirken" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "wirkende" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "wirken" for "wirkende" ever safe?
Which is more common, "wirken" or "wirkende"?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "wirken" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "wirkende" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,915,507 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "wirken" and "wirkende" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Wickel vs wirken". 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 #1,915,507 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.