gegenvsgivenConfusable pair

Quick tell: gegen is a particle, given is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“gegen” is a particle and “given” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#95
“gegen” frequency rank
#48,187
“given” frequency rank
48282
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature gegen given
Definition dagegen, entgegen Partizip Perfekt (past participle) des Verbs give

Letter map: gegen vs given

Shared letters muted; letters that set gegen and given apart highlighted. Shared run: 3.

5 ch
gegen
5 ch
given

Grammar separator: gegen vs given

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: gegen is aparticle and givenaverb. On the page they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 48282, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

gegen is recorded at frequency rank #95, classified as aparticle, pronounced [ˈɡeːɡn̩]. given is at rank #48,187, tagged as averb, pronounced […].

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 48282, this pair ranks #1,254,282 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of gegen vs given

Shared letters: egn. Private to "gegen": -. Private to "given": iv.

"gegen" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "given" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • gegeneggen · geegn · gegenn · geggen · gegne · ggeen · ggegen
  • givenggiven · gievn · givenn · givne · givven · gvien · igven

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "gegen" for "given" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "gegen" is a particle and "given" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "gegen" vs "given" - which ranks higher?
"gegen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #95 in our German list, against #48,187 for "given". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

Pair "gegen" vs "given" is on the table, pick a follow-up below.

  • Full dictionary entry for "gegen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "given" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,254,282 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "gegen" and "given" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "given vs puzzles". 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 #1,254,282 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