GefährdungvsGewährungWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#9,724
“Gefährdung” frequency rank
#24,366
“Gewährung” frequency rank
34090
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Gefährdung Gewährung
Definition gefährlicher Umstand, der sich negativ auf etwas/jemanden auswirken kann Aktion, die etwas erlaubt, einräumt, etwas zur Verfügung stellt

Where the eye mixes Gefährdung and Gewährung

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. Gefährdung runs 10 letters (CVCVCCCVCC) against Gewährung's 9 (CVCVCCVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

10 ch
Gefährdung
9 ch
Gewährung

Look-alike desk: Gefährdung vs Gewährung

A purely visual mix-up. Gefährdung ([ɡəˈfɛːɐ̯dʊŋ]) and Gewährung ([ɡəˈvɛːʁʊŋ]) 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 34090, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Gefährdung is recorded at frequency rank #9,724, classified as anoun, pronounced [ɡəˈfɛːɐ̯dʊŋ]. Gewährung is at rank #24,366, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ɡəˈvɛːʁʊŋ].

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 34090, this pair ranks #1,671,226 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Gefährdung vs Gewährung

Shared letters: eghnruä. Private to "Gefährdung": df. Private to "Gewährung": w.

"Gefährdung" · 10 letters · shape CVCVCCCVCC  ·  "Gewährung" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCCVCC

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Gefährdung" and "Gewährung" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ɡəˈfɛːɐ̯dʊŋ] versus [ɡəˈvɛːʁʊŋ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "Gefährdung" or "Gewährung" show up more?
"Gefährdung" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #9,724 in our German list, against #24,366 for "Gewährung". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Gefährdung" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Gewährung" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,671,226 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Gefährdung" and "Gewährung" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Gewährung vs Gewöhnung". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #1,671,226 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