aufgegebenvsaufgehobenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#4,097
“aufgegeben” frequency rank
#3,795
“aufgehoben” frequency rank
7892
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature aufgegeben aufgehoben
Definition Partizip Perfekt des Verbs aufgeben Partizip Perfekt des Verbs aufheben

Where the eye mixes aufgegeben and aufgehoben

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. aufgegeben and aufgehoben follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VVCCVCVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

10 ch
aufgegeben
10 ch
aufgehoben

Visual trap between aufgegeben and aufgehoben

A purely visual mix-up. aufgegeben ([ˈaʊ̯fɡəˌɡeːbn̩]) and aufgehoben ([ˈaʊ̯fɡəˌhoːbn̩]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 7892, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

aufgegeben is recorded at frequency rank #4,097, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈaʊ̯fɡəˌɡeːbn̩]. aufgehoben is at rank #3,795, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈaʊ̯fɡəˌhoːbn̩].

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 7892, this pair ranks #1,986,463 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of aufgegeben vs aufgehoben

Shared letters: abefgnu. Private to "aufgegeben": -. Private to "aufgehoben": ho.

"aufgegeben" · 10 letters · shape VVCCVCVCVC  ·  "aufgehoben" · 10 letters · shape VVCCVCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • aufgegeben ← afugegeben · aufeggeben · auffgegeben · aufgeegben · aufgegbeen · aufgegebben · aufgegebenn · aufgegebne
  • aufgehoben ← afugehoben · aufeghoben · auffgehoben · aufgehboen · aufgehhoben · aufgehobben · aufgehobenn · aufgehobne

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "aufgegeben" and "aufgehoben" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈaʊ̯fɡəˌɡeːbn̩] versus [ˈaʊ̯fɡəˌhoːbn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "aufgegeben" vs "aufgehoben" - which ranks higher?
"aufgehoben" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,795 in our German list, against #4,097 for "aufgegeben". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "aufgegeben" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "aufgehoben" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,986,463 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "aufgegeben" and "aufgehoben" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Aufgeboten vs aufgehoben". 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 #1,986,463 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