GefangenevsGesängenTell them apart

Which to use

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

#9,028
“Gefangene” frequency rank
#45,984
“Gesängen” frequency rank
55012
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Gefangene Gesängen
Definition weibliche Person, die gefangen ist, sich also nicht frei bewegen kann Dativ Plural des Substantivs Gesang

Where the eye mixes Gefangene and Gesängen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. Gefangene runs 9 letters (CVCVCCVCV) against Gesängen's 8 (CVCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

9 ch
Gefangene
8 ch
Gesängen

Visual trap between Gefangene and Gesängen

A purely visual mix-up. Gefangene ([ɡəˈfaŋənə]) and Gesängen ([ɡəˈzɛŋən]) 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 55012, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Gefangene is recorded at frequency rank #9,028, classified as anoun, pronounced [ɡəˈfaŋənə]. Gesängen is at rank #45,984, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ɡəˈzɛŋən].

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 55012, this pair ranks #996,155 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Gefangene vs Gesängen

Shared letters: egn. Private to "Gefangene": af. Private to "Gesängen": .

"Gefangene" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCCVCV  ·  "Gesängen" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Gefangeneegfangene · geafngene · gefagnene · gefanegne · gefangeen · gefanggene · gefangnee · gefanngene

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Gefangene" and "Gesängen" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ɡəˈfaŋənə] versus [ɡəˈzɛŋən]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "Gefangene" or "Gesängen" show up more?
"Gefangene" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #9,028 in our German list, against #45,984 for "Gesängen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Gefangene" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Gesängen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #996,155 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Gefangene" and "Gesängen" 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 #996,155 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