gamevsGängeConfusable pair

Quick tell: game is a verb, Gänge is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“game” is a verb and “Gänge” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#3,119
“game” frequency rank
#8,876
“Gänge” frequency rank
11995
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature game Gänge
Definition 2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs gamen Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Gang

Where the eye mixes game and Gänge

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. game runs 4 letters (CVCV) against Gänge's 5 (CVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

4 ch
game
5 ch
Gänge

Look-alike desk: game vs Gänge

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: game is [ˈɡeːmə] while Gänge is [ˈɡɛŋə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 11995, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

game is recorded at frequency rank #3,119, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈɡeːmə]. Gänge is at rank #8,876, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈɡɛŋə].

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 11995, this pair ranks #1,966,776 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of game vs Gänge

Shared letters: eg. Private to "game": am. Private to "Gänge": nä.

"game" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "Gänge" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • game ← agme · gaem · gamme · ggame · gmae

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "game" for "Gänge" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "game" is a verb and "Gänge" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "game" vs "Gänge" - which ranks higher?
"game" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,119 in our German list, against #8,876 for "Gänge". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "game" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Gänge" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,966,776 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "game" and "Gänge" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Gänge vs Ganser". 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 #1,966,776 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