durchgehtvsdurchlebtTell them apart

Which to use

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

#40,486
“durchgeht” frequency rank
#32,006
“durchlebt” frequency rank
72492
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature durchgeht durchlebt
Definition 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv der Nebensatzkonjugation des Verbs durchgehen Partizip Perfekt des Verbs durchleben

Where the eye mixes durchgeht and durchlebt

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. durchgeht and durchlebt follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCCCVCC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

9 ch
durchgeht
9 ch
durchlebt

Why the eye confuses durchgeht with durchlebt

A purely visual mix-up. durchgeht ([ˈdʊʁçˌɡeːt]) and durchlebt ([ˌdʊʁçˈleːpt]) 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 72492, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

durchgeht is recorded at frequency rank #40,486, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈdʊʁçˌɡeːt]. durchlebt is at rank #32,006, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˌdʊʁçˈleːpt].

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 72492, this pair ranks #386,887 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of durchgeht vs durchlebt

Shared letters: cdehrtu. Private to "durchgeht": g. Private to "durchlebt": bl.

"durchgeht" · 9 letters · shape CVCCCCVCC  ·  "durchlebt" · 9 letters · shape CVCCCCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • durchgeht ← ddurchgeht · druchgeht · ducrhgeht · durcchgeht · durcgheht · durcheght · durchgehht · durchgehtt
  • durchlebt ← ddurchlebt · druchlebt · ducrhlebt · durcchlebt · durchelbt · durchhlebt · durchlbet · durchlebbt

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "durchgeht" for "durchlebt" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈdʊʁçˌɡeːt] versus [ˌdʊʁçˈleːpt]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "durchgeht" or "durchlebt" show up more?
"durchlebt" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #32,006 in our German list, against #40,486 for "durchgeht". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "durchgeht" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "durchlebt" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #386,887 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "durchgeht" and "durchlebt" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "durchleben vs durchlebt". 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 #386,887 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