gelogenvsgenügenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#9,204
“gelogen” frequency rank
#10,479
“genügen” frequency rank
19683
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature gelogen genügen
Definition Partizip Perfekt des Verbs lügen für einen bestimmten Zweck in ausreichendem Maß zur Verfügung stehen

Where the eye mixes gelogen and genügen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. gelogen and genügen follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

7 ch
gelogen
7 ch
genügen

Visual trap between gelogen and genügen

A purely visual mix-up. gelogen ([ɡəˈloːɡn̩]) and genügen ([ɡəˈnyːɡn̩]) 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 19683, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

gelogen is recorded at frequency rank #9,204, classified as averb, pronounced [ɡəˈloːɡn̩]. genügen is at rank #10,479, tagged as averb, pronounced [ɡəˈnyːɡn̩].

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 19683, this pair ranks #1,905,733 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of gelogen vs genügen

Shared letters: egn. Private to "gelogen": lo. Private to "genügen": ü.

"gelogen" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC  ·  "genügen" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • gelogen ← eglogen · gelgoen · gellogen · geloegn · gelogenn · geloggen · gelogne · geolgen

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "gelogen" for "genügen" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ɡəˈloːɡn̩] versus [ɡəˈnyːɡn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "gelogen" or "genügen"?
"gelogen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #9,204 in our German list, against #10,479 for "genügen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "gelogen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "genügen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,905,733 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "gelogen" and "genügen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "gelobten vs gelogen". 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 #1,905,733 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