gefegtvsgerügtWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#43,899
“gefegt” frequency rank
#44,645
“gerügt” frequency rank
88544
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature gefegt gerügt
Definition Partizip Perfekt des Verbs fegen Partizip Perfekt des Verbs rügen

Where the eye mixes gefegt and gerügt

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. gefegt and gerügt follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVCC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

6 ch
gefegt
6 ch
gerügt

Visual trap between gefegt and gerügt

A purely visual mix-up. gefegt ([ɡəˈfeːkt]) and gerügt ([ɡəˈʁyːkt]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 88544, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

gefegt is recorded at frequency rank #43,899, classified as averb, pronounced [ɡəˈfeːkt]. gerügt is at rank #44,645, tagged as averb, pronounced [ɡəˈʁyːkt].

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 88544, this pair ranks #67,186 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of gefegt vs gerügt

Shared letters: egt. Private to "gefegt": f. Private to "gerügt": .

"gefegt" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC  ·  "gerügt" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • gefegtegfegt · geefgt · gefeggt · gefegtt · gefetg · geffegt · gefget · gfeegt

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "gefegt" and "gerügt" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ɡəˈfeːkt] versus [ɡəˈʁyːkt]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "gefegt" or "gerügt" show up more?
"gefegt" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #43,899 in our German list, against #44,645 for "gerügt". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "gefegt" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "gerügt" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #67,186 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "gefegt" and "gerügt" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "gefegt vs gefeit". 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 #67,186 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