gewachsenvsgewachseneWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: gewachsen is a verb, gewachsene is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“gewachsen” is a verb and “gewachsene” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#4,796
“gewachsen” frequency rank
#27,751
“gewachsene” frequency rank
32547
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature gewachsen gewachsene
Definition Partizip Perfekt des Verbs wachsen Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs gewachsen

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set gewachsen and gewachsene apart are highlighted. They share 9 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

9 ch
gewachsen
10 ch
gewachsene

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: gewachsen is [ɡəˈvaksn̩] while gewachsene is [ɡəˈvaksənə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “gewachsen” sits inside “gewachsene”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 32547, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

gewachsen is recorded at frequency rank #4,796, classified as averb, pronounced [ɡəˈvaksn̩]. gewachsene is at rank #27,751, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ɡəˈvaksənə].

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 32547, this pair ranks #1,705,331 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of gewachsen vs gewachsene

Shared letters: aceghnsw. Private to "gewachsen": -. Private to "gewachsene": -.

"gewachsen" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCCCVC  ·  "gewachsene" · 10 letters · shape CVCVCCCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • gewachsenegwachsen · geawchsen · gewacchsen · gewachesn · gewachhsen · gewachsenn · gewachsne · gewachssen
  • gewachseneegwachsene · geawchsene · gewacchsene · gewachesne · gewachhsene · gewachseen · gewachsnee · gewachssene

Frequency comparison

gewachsen#4,796
gewachsene#27,751

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "gewachsen" and "gewachsene" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "gewachsen" is a verb and "gewachsene" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "gewachsen" or "gewachsene"?
"gewachsen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,796 in our German list, against #27,751 for "gewachsene". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering gewachsen vs gewachsene

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “gewachsen”; for an adjective, it's “gewachsene”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “gewachsen” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list