Which to use
“geschah” and “geschämt” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #4,203
- “geschah” frequency rank
- #41,854
- “geschämt” frequency rank
- 46057
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | geschah | geschämt |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs geschehen | Partizip Perfekt des Verbs schämen |
Where the eye mixes geschah and geschämt
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. geschah runs 7 letters (CVCCCVC) against geschämt's 8 (CVCCCVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between geschah and geschämt
A purely visual mix-up. geschah ([ɡəˈʃaː]) and geschämt ([ɡəˈʃɛːmt]) 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 46057, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
geschah is recorded at frequency rank #4,203, classified as averb, pronounced [ɡəˈʃaː]. geschämt is at rank #41,854, tagged as averb, pronounced [ɡəˈʃɛːmt].
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 46057, this pair ranks #1,332,014 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of geschah vs geschämt
Shared letters: ceghs. Private to "geschah": a. Private to "geschämt": mtä.
"geschah" · 7 letters · shape CVCCCVC · "geschämt" · 8 letters · shape CVCCCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- geschah ← egschah · gecshah · gescahh · gescchah · geschahh · geschha · geschhah · geshcah
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "geschah" and "geschämt" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "geschah" or "geschämt" show up more?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "geschah" and "geschämt" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "geschah" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "geschämt" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,332,014 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "geschah" and "geschämt" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "geschämt vs gescheut". 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 #1,332,014 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.