geborenvsgewogenWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#1,323
“geboren” frequency rank
#29,153
“gewogen” frequency rank
30476
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature geboren gewogen
Definition auf die Welt gekommen als … Partizip Perfekt des Verbs wiegen

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set geboren and gewogen apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch
geboren
7 ch
gewogen

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: geboren is [ɡəˈboːʁən] while gewogen is [ɡəˈvoːɡn̩]. 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 30476, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

geboren is recorded at frequency rank #1,323, classified as anadj, pronounced [ɡəˈboːʁən]. gewogen is at rank #29,153, tagged as averb, pronounced [ɡəˈvoːɡn̩].

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 30476, this pair ranks #1,747,087 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of geboren vs gewogen

Shared letters: egno. Private to "geboren": br. Private to "gewogen": w.

"geboren" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC  ·  "gewogen" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • geborenegboren · gbeoren · gebboren · geboern · geborenn · geborne · geborren · gebroen
  • gewogenegwogen · geowgen · gewgoen · gewoegn · gewogenn · gewoggen · gewogne · gewwogen

Frequency comparison

geboren#1,323
gewogen#29,153

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "geboren" and "gewogen" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "geboren" is an adjective and "gewogen" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "geboren" or "gewogen"?
"geboren" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,323 in our German list, against #29,153 for "gewogen". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering geboren vs gewogen

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “geboren”; for a verb, it's “gewogen”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “geboren” 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