Which to use
“wirkenden” is an adjective and “Wirkungen” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #17,191
- “wirkenden” frequency rank
- #11,787
- “Wirkungen” frequency rank
- 28978
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | wirkenden | Wirkungen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs wirkend | Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Wirkung |
Where the eye mixes wirkenden and Wirkungen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. wirkenden and Wirkungen follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Look-alike desk: wirkenden vs Wirkungen
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: wirkenden is [ˈvɪʁkn̩dən] while Wirkungen is [ˈvɪʁkʊŋən]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 28978, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
wirkenden is recorded at frequency rank #17,191, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈvɪʁkn̩dən]. Wirkungen is at rank #11,787, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈvɪʁkʊŋən].
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 28978, this pair ranks #1,775,201 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of wirkenden vs Wirkungen
Shared letters: eiknrw. Private to "wirkenden": d. Private to "Wirkungen": gu.
"wirkenden" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC · "Wirkungen" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "wirkenden" for "Wirkungen" ever safe?
Frequency check: "wirkenden" vs "Wirkungen" - which ranks higher?
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 "wirkenden" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "Wirkungen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,775,201 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "wirkenden" and "Wirkungen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Winnenden vs wirkenden". 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 #1,775,201 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.