Which to use
“gelingen” and “gerungen” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #5,836
- “gelingen” frequency rank
- #43,214
- “gerungen” frequency rank
- 49050
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | gelingen | gerungen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | etwas erfolgreich zu Ende bringen, erfolgreich zustande kommen | Partizip Perfekt des Verbs ringen |
Where the eye mixes gelingen and gerungen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. gelingen and gerungen follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Visual trap between gelingen and gerungen
A purely visual mix-up. gelingen ([ɡəˈlɪŋən]) and gerungen ([ɡəˈʁʊŋən]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 49050, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
gelingen is recorded at frequency rank #5,836, classified as averb, pronounced [ɡəˈlɪŋən]. gerungen is at rank #43,214, tagged as averb, pronounced [ɡəˈʁʊŋən].
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 49050, this pair ranks #1,225,940 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of gelingen vs gerungen
Shared letters: egn. Private to "gelingen": il. Private to "gerungen": ru.
"gelingen" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC · "gerungen" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "gelingen" for "gerungen" ever safe?
Which is more common, "gelingen" or "gerungen"?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "gelingen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "gerungen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,225,940 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "gelingen" and "gerungen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Gemünden vs gerungen". 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 #1,225,940 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.