Which to use
“gehorchen” is a verb and “gehörten” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #19,586
- “gehorchen” frequency rank
- #4,989
- “gehörten” frequency rank
- 24575
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | gehorchen | gehörten |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | einer Anweisung Folge leisten; einen Befehl ausführen | Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs gehört |
Where the eye mixes gehorchen and gehörten
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. gehorchen runs 9 letters (CVCVCCCVC) against gehörten's 8 (CVCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses gehorchen with gehörten
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: gehorchen is [ɡəˈhɔʁçn̩] while gehörten is [ɡəˈhøːɐ̯tn̩]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 24575, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
gehorchen is recorded at frequency rank #19,586, classified as averb, pronounced [ɡəˈhɔʁçn̩]. gehörten is at rank #4,989, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ɡəˈhøːɐ̯tn̩].
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 24575, this pair ranks #1,845,672 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of gehorchen vs gehörten
Shared letters: eghnr. Private to "gehorchen": co. Private to "gehörten": tö.
"gehorchen" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCCCVC · "gehörten" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- gehorchen ← eghorchen · gehhorchen · gehocrhen · gehorcchen · gehorcehn · gehorchenn · gehorchhen · gehorchne
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "gehorchen" and "gehörten" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "gehorchen" vs "gehörten" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "gehorchen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "gehörten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,845,672 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "gehorchen" and "gehörten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "gehörten vs gelobten". 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 #1,845,672 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.