Which to use
“eigenen” is an adjective and “ergehen” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #351
- “eigenen” frequency rank
- #17,277
- “ergehen” frequency rank
- 17628
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | eigenen | ergehen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Flexion des Adjektivs eigen | offiziell ausgestellt/festgestellt/zugestellt werden |
Where the eye mixes eigenen and ergehen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between eigenen and ergehen
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: eigenen is [ˈaɪ̯ɡənən] while ergehen is [ɛɐ̯ˈɡeːən]. 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 verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 17628, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
eigenen is recorded at frequency rank #351, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈaɪ̯ɡənən]. ergehen is at rank #17,277, tagged as averb, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈɡeːən].
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 17628, this pair ranks #1,925,710 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of eigenen vs ergehen
Shared letters: egn. Private to "eigenen": i. Private to "ergehen": hr.
"eigenen" · 7 letters · shape VVCVCVC · "ergehen" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "eigenen" and "ergehen" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary German text, does "eigenen" or "ergehen" show up more?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "eigenen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "ergehen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,925,710 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "eigenen" and "ergehen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ergehen vs erwehren". 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 #1,925,710 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.