gehörenvsgehörigWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: gehören is a verb, gehörig is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“gehören” is a verb and “gehörig” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#791
“gehören” frequency rank
#14,810
“gehörig” frequency rank
15601
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature gehören gehörig
Definition etwas/jemand gehört jemandem: Eigentum von einer Person sein zu jemandem oder etwas gehörend

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set gehören and gehörig apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch
gehören
7 ch
gehörig

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

gehören and gehörig form a confusable pair in the German index, two distinct headwords that are easily confused because they look alike, sound alike, or both. They share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions - close enough that the eye skips over the difference, far enough that meaning fully diverges. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 15601, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

gehören is recorded at frequency rank #791, classified as averb, pronounced [ɡəˈhøːʁən]. gehörig is at rank #14,810, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ɡəˈhøːʁɪç].

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 15601, this pair ranks #1,942,569 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Frequency comparison

gehören#791
gehörig#14,810

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "gehören" and "gehörig" be used interchangeably?
No, "gehören" and "gehörig" have distinct meanings and cannot be swapped without changing the meaning of a sentence. Understanding the specific definition and context for each word is essential for correct usage.

Remembering gehören vs gehörig

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “gehören”; for an adjective, it's “gehörig”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “gehören” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list