gefürchtetvsgezüchtetWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: gefürchtet is a adjective, gezüchtet is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

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

#23,142
“gefürchtet” frequency rank
#18,272
“gezüchtet” frequency rank
41414
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature gefürchtet gezüchtet
Definition vor etwas Angst habend Partizip Perfekt des Verbs züchten

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set gefürchtet and gezüchtet apart are highlighted. They share 8 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

10 ch
gefürchtet
9 ch
gezüchtet

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: gefürchtet is [ɡəˈfʏʁçtət] while gezüchtet is [ɡəˈt͡sʏçtət]. 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 (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 41414, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

gefürchtet is recorded at frequency rank #23,142, classified as anadj, pronounced [ɡəˈfʏʁçtət]. gezüchtet is at rank #18,272, tagged as averb, pronounced [ɡəˈt͡sʏçtət].

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 41414, this pair ranks #1,480,152 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of gefürchtet vs gezüchtet

Shared letters: ceghtü. Private to "gefürchtet": fr. Private to "gezüchtet": z.

"gefürchtet" · 10 letters · shape CVCVCCCCVC  ·  "gezüchtet" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCCCVC

Frequency comparison

gefürchtet#23,142
gezüchtet#18,272

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "gefürchtet" and "gezüchtet" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "gefürchtet" is an adjective and "gezüchtet" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "gefürchtet" or "gezüchtet"?
"gezüchtet" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #18,272 in our German list, against #23,142 for "gefürchtet". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering gefürchtet vs gezüchtet

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “gefürchtet”; for a verb, it's “gezüchtet”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “gefürchtet” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list