gefährdetvsgefährdetenConfusable pair

Quick tell: gefährdet is a verb, gefährdeten is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

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

#4,349
“gefährdet” frequency rank
#21,981
“gefährdeten” frequency rank
26330
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature gefährdet gefährdeten
Definition Partizip Perfekt des Verbs gefährden Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs gefährdet

Where the eye mixes gefährdet and gefährdeten

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence. gefährdet runs 9 letters (CVCVCCCVC) against gefährdeten's 11 (CVCVCCCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

9 ch
gefährdet
11 ch
gefährdeten

Why the eye confuses gefährdet with gefährdeten

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: gefährdet is [ɡəˈfɛːɐ̯dət] while gefährdeten is [ɡəˈfɛːɐ̯dətn̩]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “gefährdet” sits inside “gefährdeten”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 26330, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

gefährdet is recorded at frequency rank #4,349, classified as averb, pronounced [ɡəˈfɛːɐ̯dət]. gefährdeten is at rank #21,981, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ɡəˈfɛːɐ̯dətn̩].

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 26330, this pair ranks #1,819,764 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of gefährdet vs gefährdeten

Shared letters: defghrtä. Private to "gefährdet": -. Private to "gefährdeten": n.

"gefährdet" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCCCVC  ·  "gefährdeten" · 11 letters · shape CVCVCCCVCVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "gefährdet" and "gefährdeten" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "gefährdet" is a verb and "gefährdeten" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "gefährdet" or "gefährdeten" show up more?
"gefährdet" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,349 in our German list, against #21,981 for "gefährdeten". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "gefährdet" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "gefährdeten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,819,764 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "gefährdet" and "gefährdeten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "gefährdeten vs gefahrenen". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #1,819,764 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