GängenvsGattenTell them apart

Which to use

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

#23,969
“Gängen” frequency rank
#18,552
“Gatten” frequency rank
42521
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Gängen Gatten
Definition Dativ Plural des Substantivs Gang Genitiv Singular des Substantivs Gatte

Where the eye mixes Gängen and Gatten

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. Gängen and Gatten follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

6 ch
Gängen
6 ch
Gatten

Why the eye confuses Gängen with Gatten

A purely visual mix-up. Gängen ([ˈɡɛŋən]) and Gatten ([ˈɡatn̩]) 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 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 42521, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Gängen is recorded at frequency rank #23,969, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈɡɛŋən]. Gatten is at rank #18,552, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈɡatn̩].

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 42521, this pair ranks #1,446,735 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Gängen vs Gatten

Shared letters: egn. Private to "Gängen": ä. Private to "Gatten": at.

"Gängen" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "Gatten" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Gatten ← agtten · gaten · gatetn · gattenn · gattne · ggatten · gtaten

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Gängen" and "Gatten" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈɡɛŋən] versus [ˈɡatn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Gängen" or "Gatten"?
"Gatten" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #18,552 in our German list, against #23,969 for "Gängen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "Gängen" and "Gatten" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Gängen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Gatten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,446,735 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Gängen" and "Gatten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Gängen vs Gesängen". 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 #1,446,735 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