gefährdetvsgefahrenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“gefährdet” and “gefahren” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#4,349
“gefährdet” frequency rank
#1,479
“gefahren” frequency rank
5828
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature gefährdet gefahren
Definition Partizip Perfekt des Verbs gefährden Partizip Perfekt des Verbs fahren

Where the eye mixes gefährdet and gefahren

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.

9 ch
gefährdet
8 ch
gefahren

Look-alike desk: gefährdet vs gefahren

A purely visual mix-up. gefährdet ([ɡəˈfɛːɐ̯dət]) and gefahren ([ɡəˈfaːʁən]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 5828, 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]. gefahren is at rank #1,479, tagged as averb, pronounced [ɡəˈfaːʁən].

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 5828, this pair ranks #1,993,589 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of gefährdet vs gefahren

Shared letters: efghr. Private to "gefährdet": dtä. Private to "gefahren": an.

"gefährdet" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCCCVC  ·  "gefahren" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • gefahrenegfahren · geafhren · gefahern · gefahhren · gefahrenn · gefahrne · gefahrren · gefarhen

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "gefährdet" for "gefahren" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ɡəˈfɛːɐ̯dət] versus [ɡəˈfaːʁən]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "gefährdet" vs "gefahren" - which ranks higher?
"gefahren" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,479 in our German list, against #4,349 for "gefährdet". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "gefährdet" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "gefahren" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,993,589 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "gefährdet" and "gefahren" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "gefahren vs gefahrenen". 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 #1,993,589 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