genügenvsgerufenTell them apart

Which to use

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

#10,479
“genügen” frequency rank
#3,816
“gerufen” frequency rank
14295
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

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

Where the eye mixes genügen and gerufen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. genügen and gerufen follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

7 ch
genügen
7 ch
gerufen

Why the eye confuses genügen with gerufen

A purely visual mix-up. genügen ([ɡəˈnyːɡn̩]) and gerufen ([ɡəˈʁuːfn̩]) 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 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 14295, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

genügen is recorded at frequency rank #10,479, classified as averb, pronounced [ɡəˈnyːɡn̩]. gerufen is at rank #3,816, tagged as averb, pronounced [ɡəˈʁuːfn̩].

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 14295, this pair ranks #1,952,215 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of genügen vs gerufen

Shared letters: egn. Private to "genügen": ü. Private to "gerufen": fru.

"genügen" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC  ·  "gerufen" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • gerufenegrufen · gerfuen · gerrufen · geruefn · gerufenn · geruffen · gerufne · geurfen

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "genügen" for "gerufen" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ɡəˈnyːɡn̩] versus [ɡəˈʁuːfn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "genügen" vs "gerufen" - which ranks higher?
"gerufen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,816 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 "genügen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "gerufen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,952,215 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "genügen" and "gerufen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "genügen 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 #1,952,215 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