Which to use
“gerungen” and “gesunken” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #43,214
- “gerungen” frequency rank
- #8,212
- “gesunken” frequency rank
- 51426
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | gerungen | gesunken |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Partizip Perfekt des Verbs ringen | Partizip Perfekt des Verbs sinken |
Where the eye mixes gerungen and gesunken
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. gerungen and gesunken follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Visual trap between gerungen and gesunken
A purely visual mix-up. gerungen ([ɡəˈʁʊŋən]) and gesunken ([ɡəˈzʊŋkn̩]) 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 51426, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
gerungen is recorded at frequency rank #43,214, classified as averb, pronounced [ɡəˈʁʊŋən]. gesunken is at rank #8,212, tagged as averb, pronounced [ɡəˈzʊŋkn̩].
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 51426, this pair ranks #1,136,000 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of gerungen vs gesunken
Shared letters: egnu. Private to "gerungen": r. Private to "gesunken": ks.
"gerungen" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC · "gesunken" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "gerungen" for "gesunken" ever safe?
Frequency check: "gerungen" vs "gesunken" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "gerungen" and "gesunken" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "gerungen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "gesunken" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,136,000 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "gerungen" and "gesunken" 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 #1,136,000 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.