Which to use
“gehalten” is an adjective and “gehangen” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #1,419
- “gehalten” frequency rank
- #41,839
- “gehangen” frequency rank
- 43258
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | gehalten | gehangen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | maßvoll, beherrscht | Partizip Perfekt des Verbs hängen |
Where the eye mixes gehalten and gehangen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. gehalten and gehangen follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses gehalten with gehangen
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: gehalten is [ɡəˈhaltn̩] while gehangen is [ɡəˈhaŋən]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 43258, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
gehalten is recorded at frequency rank #1,419, classified as anadj, pronounced [ɡəˈhaltn̩]. gehangen is at rank #41,839, tagged as averb, pronounced [ɡəˈhaŋən].
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 43258, this pair ranks #1,423,757 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of gehalten vs gehangen
Shared letters: aeghn. Private to "gehalten": lt. Private to "gehangen": -.
"gehalten" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC · "gehangen" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "gehalten" and "gehangen" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "gehalten" or "gehangen"?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "gehalten" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "gehangen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,423,757 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "gehalten" and "gehangen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "gegangene vs gehangen". 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 #1,423,757 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.