ergangenvserwägenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#24,698
“ergangen” frequency rank
#24,327
“erwägen” frequency rank
49025
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ergangen erwägen
Definition Partizip Perfekt des Verbs ergehen in Betracht ziehen

Where the eye mixes ergangen and erwägen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. ergangen runs 8 letters (VCCVCCVC) against erwägen's 7 (VCCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

8 ch
ergangen
7 ch
erwägen

Look-alike desk: ergangen vs erwägen

A purely visual mix-up. ergangen ([ɛɐ̯ˈɡaŋən]) and erwägen ([ɛɐ̯ˈvɛːɡn̩]) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 49025, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ergangen is recorded at frequency rank #24,698, classified as averb, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈɡaŋən]. erwägen is at rank #24,327, tagged as averb, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈvɛːɡn̩].

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 49025, this pair ranks #1,226,836 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of ergangen vs erwägen

Shared letters: egnr. Private to "ergangen": a. Private to "erwägen": wä.

"ergangen" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCCVC  ·  "erwägen" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • ergangen ← egrangen · eragngen · ergagnen · erganegn · ergangenn · erganggen · ergangne · erganngen

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "ergangen" for "erwägen" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ɛɐ̯ˈɡaŋən] versus [ɛɐ̯ˈvɛːɡn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "ergangen" or "erwägen"?
"erwägen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #24,327 in our German list, against #24,698 for "ergangen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "ergangen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "erwägen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,226,836 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "ergangen" and "erwägen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ergangen vs ergänze". 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 #1,226,836 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