Which to use
“Gefangener” is a noun and “gelungener” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #23,526
- “Gefangener” frequency rank
- #20,932
- “gelungener” frequency rank
- 44458
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Gefangener | gelungener |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | jemand, der gefangen ist, sich also nicht frei bewegen kann | Nominativ Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs gelungen |
Where the eye mixes Gefangener and gelungener
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. Gefangener and gelungener follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVCCVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses Gefangener with gelungener
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Gefangener is [ɡəˈfaŋənɐ] while gelungener is [ɡəˈlʊŋənɐ]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 44458, 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]. gelungener is at rank #20,932, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ɡəˈlʊŋənɐ].
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 44458, this pair ranks #1,385,555 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of Gefangener vs gelungener
Shared letters: egnr. Private to "Gefangener": af. Private to "gelungener": lu.
"Gefangener" · 10 letters · shape CVCVCCVCVC · "gelungener" · 10 letters · shape CVCVCCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- Gefangener ← egfangener · geafngener · gefagnener · gefanegner · gefangeenr · gefangenerr · gefangenner · gefangenre
- gelungener ← eglungener · gellungener · gelnugener · gelugnener · gelunegner · gelungeenr · gelungenerr · gelungenner
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "Gefangener" for "gelungener" ever safe?
Which is more common, "Gefangener" or "gelungener"?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "Gefangener" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "gelungener" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,385,555 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Gefangener" and "gelungener" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Gefangener vs gegangene". 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 #1,385,555 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.