ganzenvsgasenWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: ganzen is a adjective, gasen is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“ganzen” is an adjective and “gasen” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#366
“ganzen” frequency rank
#39,952
“gasen” frequency rank
40318
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ganzen gasen
Definition Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Flexion des Adjektivs ganz Gas verlieren, freisetzen

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set ganzen and gasen apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
ganzen
5 ch
gasen

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: ganzen is [ˈɡant͡sn̩] while gasen is [ˈɡaːzn̩]. 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 (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 40318, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ganzen is recorded at frequency rank #366, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈɡant͡sn̩]. gasen is at rank #39,952, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈɡaːzn̩].

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 40318, this pair ranks #1,511,928 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of ganzen vs gasen

Shared letters: aegn. Private to "ganzen": z. Private to "gasen": s.

"ganzen" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "gasen" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • ganzenagnzen · ganezn · gannzen · ganzenn · ganzne · ganzzen · gaznen · gganzen
  • gasenagsen · gaesn · gasenn · gasne · ggasen · gsaen

Frequency comparison

ganzen#366
gasen#39,952

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "ganzen" and "gasen" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "ganzen" is an adjective and "gasen" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "ganzen" or "gasen"?
"ganzen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #366 in our German list, against #39,952 for "gasen". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering ganzen vs gasen

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “ganzen”; for a verb, it's “gasen”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “ganzen” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list