gegangenvsgegangeneConfusable pair

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

Which to use

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

#1,181
“gegangen” frequency rank
#48,915
“gegangene” frequency rank
50096
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature gegangen gegangene
Definition Partizip Perfekt des Verbs gehen Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs gegangen

Where the eye mixes gegangen and gegangene

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. gegangen runs 8 letters (CVCVCCVC) against gegangene's 9 (CVCVCCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

8 ch
gegangen
9 ch
gegangene

Visual trap between gegangen and gegangene

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: gegangen is [ɡəˈɡaŋən] while gegangene is [ɡəˈɡaŋənə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “gegangen” sits inside “gegangene”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 50096, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

gegangen is recorded at frequency rank #1,181, classified as averb, pronounced [ɡəˈɡaŋən]. 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 50096, this pair ranks #1,186,789 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of gegangen vs gegangene

Shared letters: aegn. Private to "gegangen": -. Private to "gegangene": -.

"gegangen" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC  ·  "gegangene" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • gegangeneggangen · geagngen · gegagnen · geganegn · gegangenn · geganggen · gegangne · geganngen
  • gegangeneeggangene · geagngene · gegagnene · geganegne · gegangeen · geganggene · gegangnee · geganngene

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "gegangen" and "gegangene" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "gegangen" is a verb and "gegangene" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "gegangen" or "gegangene"?
"gegangen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,181 in our German list, against #48,915 for "gegangene". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "gegangen" 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 #1,186,789 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "gegangen" 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 #1,186,789 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