Which to use
“ergeben” is an adjective and “ergehen” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #2,244
- “ergeben” frequency rank
- #17,277
- “ergehen” frequency rank
- 19521
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | ergeben | ergehen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | bereit, jemandem zu dienen | offiziell ausgestellt/festgestellt/zugestellt werden |
Where the eye mixes ergeben and ergehen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. ergeben and ergehen follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCCVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Look-alike desk: ergeben vs ergehen
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: ergeben is [ɛɐ̯ˈɡeːbn̩] while ergehen is [ɛɐ̯ˈɡeːən]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - b in “ergeben” becomes h in “ergehen”, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 19521, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
ergeben is recorded at frequency rank #2,244, classified as anadj, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈɡeːbn̩]. 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 19521, this pair ranks #1,907,470 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of ergeben vs ergehen
Shared letters: egnr. Private to "ergeben": b. Private to "ergehen": h.
"ergeben" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVC · "ergehen" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "ergeben" for "ergehen" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "ergeben" or "ergehen" show up more?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "ergeben" 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 #1,907,470 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "ergeben" 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 #1,907,470 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.