gefundenvsgefundenenConfusable pair

Quick tell: gefunden is a verb, gefundenen is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“gefunden” is a verb and “gefundenen” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#443
“gefunden” frequency rank
#16,436
“gefundenen” frequency rank
16879
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature gefunden gefundenen
Definition Partizip Perfekt des Verbs finden Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs gefunden

Where the eye mixes gefunden and gefundenen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. gefunden runs 8 letters (CVCVCCVC) against gefundenen's 10 (CVCVCCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

8 ch
gefunden
10 ch
gefundenen

Look-alike desk: gefunden vs gefundenen

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: gefunden is [ɡəˈfʊndn̩] while gefundenen is [ɡəˈfʊndənən]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “gefunden” sits inside “gefundenen”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 16879, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

gefunden is recorded at frequency rank #443, classified as averb, pronounced [ɡəˈfʊndn̩]. gefundenen is at rank #16,436, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ɡəˈfʊndənən].

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 16879, this pair ranks #1,932,245 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of gefunden vs gefundenen

Shared letters: defgnu. Private to "gefunden": -. Private to "gefundenen": -.

"gefunden" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC  ·  "gefundenen" · 10 letters · shape CVCVCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • gefundenegfunden · geffunden · gefnuden · gefudnen · gefundden · gefundenn · gefundne · gefunedn
  • gefundenenegfundenen · geffundenen · gefnudenen · gefudnenen · gefunddenen · gefundeenn · gefundenenn · gefundenne

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "gefunden" and "gefundenen" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "gefunden" is a verb and "gefundenen" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "gefunden" or "gefundenen" show up more?
"gefunden" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #443 in our German list, against #16,436 for "gefundenen". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "gefunden" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "gefundenen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,932,245 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "gefunden" and "gefundenen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "gefundenen vs gefundenes". 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 #1,932,245 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