“Impending” vs. “Impeding.”
To many non-native ears, they both appear the same. There are a few reasons why.
• They look and sound nearly identical
Both start with “impe–” and end with “-ding.”
There is just one vowel sound that makes a difference:
Impending → short /e/ (like in a pen)
Impeding → long /iː/ (as in see)
• Both relate to “something happening.”
Learners hear both in contexts that involve change, movement, or events, so they mentally group them together.
Impending → “something coming soon”
Impeding → “something blocking progress”
1.) Impending = about to happen
Pronunciation: Say ‘pen’ first, then add ‘ding’ → im-PEN-ding
Phonetic breakdown: im-PEN-ding
↳ The stress is on the second syllable → PEN
↳ The vowel sound is short /e/, as in “pen” or “send.”
↳ The ending -ding is soft, not “ding!” like a bell, just /dɪn/.
A common mistake: “The impeding deadline is stressing everyone out.”
(This is incorrect; a deadline is coming; it doesn’t stop progress. Make use of impending.)
Use impending when you’re referring to something coming up soon: an event, deadline, risk, or change.
Example: “The team is under pressure because of the impending deadline.”
2.) Impeding = blocking or slowing down progress
Pronunciation: Say “speed” → remove the “s” → peed, then say im-PEE-ding
Phonetic breakdown: im-PEE-ding
↳ The stress is again on the second syllable. → PEE
↳ The vowel sound is long /iː/, as in “see” or “need.”
↳ The ending is the same soft /dɪn/.
Common Mistake: “We need to prepare for the impeding merger.”
(Incorrect, a merger doesn’t block progress; it’s approaching. Use impending.)
Example: “Network issues are impeding our progress.”
Have you ever used “impeding” when you meant ‘impending’?
Comment below. ↓