ge vs geh, What's the Difference?

Which to use

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

#4,347
“ge” frequency rank: #1,035
“geh” frequency rank: 5382
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	ge	geh
Definition	unbetonte Form des Personalpronomens gij (Subjektform der zweiten Person Singular): du	2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs gehen

Where the eye mixes ge and geh

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

2 ch

3 ch

geh

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: ge is [ɣə] while geh is [ɡeː]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “ge” sits inside “geh”, and the parts of speech differ too (pronoun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 5382, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ge is recorded at frequency rank #4,347, classified as apron, pronounced [ɣə]. 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 5382, this pair ranks #1,994,929 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of ge vs geh

Shared letters: eg. Private to "ge": -. Private to "geh": h.

"ge" · 2 letters · shape CV · "geh" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "ge" and "geh" be used interchangeably?

No - they are not even the same part of speech. "ge" is a pronoun and "geh" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.

Which is more common, "ge" or "geh"?

"geh" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,035 in our German list, against #4,347 for "ge". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

You've compared "ge" and "geh". Here's where to go from here.

Full dictionary entry for "ge" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
Full dictionary entry for "geh" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
This pair ranks #1,994,929 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
"ge" and "geh" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Gao vs ge". Nearby pair

PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.