Which to use
“gegeben” is a verb and “gegen” is a particle - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #553
- “gegeben” frequency rank
- #95
- “gegen” frequency rank
- 648
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | gegeben | gegen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Partizip Perfekt des Verbs geben | dagegen, entgegen |
Where the eye mixes gegeben and gegen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. gegeben runs 7 letters (CVCVCVC) against gegen's 5 (CVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between gegeben and gegen
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: gegeben is [ɡəˈɡeːbn̩] while gegen is [ˈɡeːɡn̩]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs particle), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 648, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
gegeben is recorded at frequency rank #553, classified as averb, pronounced [ɡəˈɡeːbn̩]. gegen is at rank #95, tagged as aparticle, pronounced [ˈɡeːɡn̩].
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 648, this pair ranks #2,005,560 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of gegeben vs gegen
Shared letters: egn. Private to "gegeben": b. Private to "gegen": -.
"gegeben" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC · "gegen" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "gegeben" and "gegen" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "gegeben" or "gegen"?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "gegeben" and "gegen" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "gegeben" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "gegen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #2,005,560 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "gegeben" and "gegen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "gegeben vs Gewebes". 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 #2,005,560 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.