garvsgehWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#213
“gar” frequency rank
#1,035
“geh” frequency rank
1248
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature gar geh
Definition gegart, gut gekocht, durchgebraten, durchgebacken 2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs gehen

Where the eye mixes gar and geh

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.

3 ch
gar
3 ch
geh

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: gar is [ɡaːɐ̯] while geh is [ɡeː]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 1248, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

gar is recorded at frequency rank #213, classified as anadj, pronounced [ɡaːɐ̯]. geh is at rank #1,035, tagged as averb, pronounced [ɡeː].

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 1248, this pair ranks #2,004,676 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of gar vs geh

Shared letters: g. Private to "gar": ar. Private to "geh": eh.

"gar" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "geh" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "gar" and "geh" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "gar" is an adjective and "geh" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "gar" or "geh"?
"gar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #213 in our German list, against #1,035 for "geh". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list