Which to use
“gefangen” is a verb and “gegangene” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #3,888
- “gefangen” frequency rank
- #48,915
- “gegangene” frequency rank
- 52803
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | gefangen | gegangene |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Partizip Perfekt des Verbs fangen | Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs gegangen |
Where the eye mixes gefangen and gegangene
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. gefangen runs 8 letters (CVCVCCVC) against gegangene's 9 (CVCVCCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between gefangen and gegangene
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: gefangen is [ɡəˈfaŋən] while gegangene is [ɡəˈɡaŋənə]. 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 (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 52803, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
gefangen is recorded at frequency rank #3,888, classified as averb, pronounced [ɡəˈfaŋən]. gegangene is at rank #48,915, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ɡəˈɡaŋənə].
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 52803, this pair ranks #1,082,672 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of gefangen vs gegangene
Shared letters: aegn. Private to "gefangen": f. Private to "gegangene": -.
"gefangen" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC · "gegangene" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "gefangen" and "gegangene" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "gefangen" or "gegangene"?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "gefangen" and "gegangene" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "gefangen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "gegangene" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,082,672 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "gefangen" and "gegangene" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "gegangene vs Gesängen". 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 #1,082,672 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.