Which to use
“Gefangener” is a noun and “gegangene” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #23,526
- “Gefangener” frequency rank
- #48,915
- “gegangene” frequency rank
- 72441
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Gefangener | gegangene |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | jemand, der gefangen ist, sich also nicht frei bewegen kann | Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs gegangen |
Where the eye mixes Gefangener and gegangene
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. Gefangener runs 10 letters (CVCVCCVCVC) against gegangene's 9 (CVCVCCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between Gefangener and gegangene
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Gefangener is [ɡəˈfaŋənɐ] 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 (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 72441, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Gefangener is recorded at frequency rank #23,526, classified as anoun, pronounced [ɡəˈfaŋənɐ]. 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 72441, this pair ranks #388,267 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of Gefangener vs gegangene
Shared letters: aegn. Private to "Gefangener": fr. Private to "gegangene": -.
"Gefangener" · 10 letters · shape CVCVCCVCVC · "gegangene" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- Gefangener ← egfangener · geafngener · gefagnener · gefanegner · gefangeenr · gefangenerr · gefangenner · gefangenre
- gegangene ← eggangene · geagngene · gegagnene · geganegne · gegangeen · geganggene · gegangnee · geganngene
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "Gefangener" and "gegangene" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "Gefangener" or "gegangene"?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "Gefangener" and "gegangene" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "Gefangener" 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 #388,267 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Gefangener" 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 #388,267 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.