gedrungenvsgesungenConfusable pair

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

Which to use

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

#46,670
“gedrungen” frequency rank
#6,541
“gesungen” frequency rank
53211
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature gedrungen gesungen
Definition klein und dabei verhältnismäßig breit Partizip Perfekt des Verbs singen

Where the eye mixes gedrungen and gesungen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. gedrungen runs 9 letters (CVCCVCCVC) against gesungen's 8 (CVCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

9 ch
gedrungen
8 ch
gesungen

Visual trap between gedrungen and gesungen

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: gedrungen is [ɡəˈdʁʊŋən] while gesungen is [ɡəˈzʊŋən]. 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 53211, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

gedrungen is recorded at frequency rank #46,670, classified as anadj, pronounced [ɡəˈdʁʊŋən]. gesungen is at rank #6,541, tagged as averb, pronounced [ɡəˈzʊŋən].

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 53211, this pair ranks #1,066,907 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of gedrungen vs gesungen

Shared letters: egnu. Private to "gedrungen": dr. Private to "gesungen": s.

"gedrungen" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC  ·  "gesungen" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • gedrungenegdrungen · gderungen · geddrungen · gedrnugen · gedrrungen · gedrugnen · gedrunegn · gedrungenn
  • gesungenegsungen · gesnugen · gessungen · gesugnen · gesunegn · gesungenn · gesunggen · gesungne

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "gedrungen" for "gesungen" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "gedrungen" is an adjective and "gesungen" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "gedrungen" or "gesungen"?
"gesungen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,541 in our German list, against #46,670 for "gedrungen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "gedrungen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "gesungen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,066,907 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "gedrungen" and "gesungen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "gedrungen vs gerungen". 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 #1,066,907 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