gegangenvsgerungenWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#1,181
“gegangen” frequency rank
#43,214
“gerungen” frequency rank
44395
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature gegangen gerungen
Definition Partizip Perfekt des Verbs gehen Partizip Perfekt des Verbs ringen

Where the eye mixes gegangen and gerungen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. gegangen and gerungen follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

8 ch
gegangen
8 ch
gerungen

Look-alike desk: gegangen vs gerungen

A purely visual mix-up. gegangen ([ɡəˈɡaŋən]) and gerungen ([ɡəˈʁʊŋən]) 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 44395, 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]. gerungen is at rank #43,214, tagged as averb, pronounced [ɡəˈʁʊŋən].

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 44395, this pair ranks #1,387,559 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of gegangen vs gerungen

Shared letters: egn. Private to "gegangen": a. Private to "gerungen": ru.

"gegangen" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC  ·  "gerungen" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • gegangeneggangen · geagngen · gegagnen · geganegn · gegangenn · geganggen · gegangne · geganngen
  • gerungenegrungen · gernugen · gerrungen · gerugnen · gerunegn · gerungenn · gerunggen · gerungne

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "gegangen" and "gerungen" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ɡəˈɡaŋən] versus [ɡəˈʁʊŋən]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "gegangen" or "gerungen" show up more?
"gegangen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,181 in our German list, against #43,214 for "gerungen". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "gegangen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "gerungen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,387,559 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "gegangen" and "gerungen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Gemünden vs gerungen". 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 #1,387,559 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