abgefangenvsabgegangenWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

“abgefangen” and “abgegangen” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#23,815
“abgefangen” frequency rank
#30,419
“abgegangen” frequency rank
54234
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature abgefangen abgegangen
Definition Partizip Perfekt des Verbs abfangen Partizip Perfekt des Verbs abgehen

Where the eye mixes abgefangen and abgegangen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence. abgefangen and abgegangen follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCCVCVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

10 ch
abgefangen
10 ch
abgegangen

Why the eye confuses abgefangen with abgegangen

A purely visual mix-up. abgefangen ([ˈapɡəˌfaŋən]) and abgegangen ([ˈapɡəˌɡaŋən]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by a single letter - f in “abgefangen” becomes g in “abgegangen”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 54234, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

abgefangen is recorded at frequency rank #23,815, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈapɡəˌfaŋən]. abgegangen is at rank #30,419, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈapɡəˌɡaŋən].

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 54234, this pair ranks #1,026,831 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of abgefangen vs abgegangen

Shared letters: abegn. Private to "abgefangen": f. Private to "abgegangen": -.

"abgefangen" · 10 letters · shape VCCVCVCCVC  ·  "abgegangen" · 10 letters · shape VCCVCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • abgefangen ← abbgefangen · abegfangen · abgeafngen · abgefagnen · abgefanegn · abgefangenn · abgefanggen · abgefangne
  • abgegangen ← abbgegangen · abeggangen · abgeagngen · abgegagnen · abgeganegn · abgegangenn · abgeganggen · abgegangne

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "abgefangen" and "abgegangen" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈapɡəˌfaŋən] versus [ˈapɡəˌɡaŋən]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "abgefangen" vs "abgegangen" - which ranks higher?
"abgefangen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #23,815 in our German list, against #30,419 for "abgegangen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "abgefangen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "abgegangen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,026,831 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "abgefangen" and "abgegangen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "abgefangen vs abzufangen". 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 #1,026,831 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list