gelegenenvsgelungenenTell them apart

Which to use

“gelegenen” and “gelungenen” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#5,712
“gelegenen” frequency rank
#14,812
“gelungenen” frequency rank
20524
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature gelegenen gelungenen
Definition Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs gelegen Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs gelungen

Where the eye mixes gelegenen and gelungenen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. gelegenen runs 9 letters (CVCVCVCVC) against gelungenen's 10 (CVCVCCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

9 ch
gelegenen
10 ch
gelungenen

Visual trap between gelegenen and gelungenen

A purely visual mix-up. gelegenen ([ɡəˈleːɡənən]) and gelungenen ([ɡəˈlʊŋənən]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 20524, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

gelegenen is recorded at frequency rank #5,712, classified as anadj, pronounced [ɡəˈleːɡənən]. gelungenen is at rank #14,812, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ɡəˈlʊŋənən].

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 20524, this pair ranks #1,896,690 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of gelegenen vs gelungenen

Shared letters: egln. Private to "gelegenen": -. Private to "gelungenen": u.

"gelegenen" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCVCVC  ·  "gelungenen" · 10 letters · shape CVCVCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • gelegeneneglegenen · geelgenen · geleegnen · gelegeenn · gelegenenn · gelegenne · gelegennen · geleggenen
  • gelungeneneglungenen · gellungenen · gelnugenen · gelugnenen · gelunegnen · gelungeenn · gelungenenn · gelungennen

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "gelegenen" and "gelungenen" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ɡəˈleːɡənən] versus [ɡəˈlʊŋənən]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "gelegenen" or "gelungenen" show up more?
"gelegenen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,712 in our German list, against #14,812 for "gelungenen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "gelegenen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "gelungenen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,896,690 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "gelegenen" and "gelungenen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "gelegenen vs gelegenes". 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 #1,896,690 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