gewährenvsgewannenTell them apart

Which to use

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

#7,328
“gewähren” frequency rank
#7,053
“gewannen” frequency rank
14381
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature gewähren gewannen
Definition jemandem etwas Erwünschtes zugestehen 1. Person Plural Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs gewinnen

Where the eye mixes gewähren and gewannen

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

8 ch
gewähren
8 ch
gewannen

Why the eye confuses gewähren with gewannen

A purely visual mix-up. gewähren ([ɡəˈvɛːʁən]) and gewannen ([ɡəˈvanən]) 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 14381, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

gewähren is recorded at frequency rank #7,328, classified as averb, pronounced [ɡəˈvɛːʁən]. gewannen is at rank #7,053, tagged as averb, pronounced [ɡəˈvanən].

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 14381, this pair ranks #1,951,597 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of gewähren vs gewannen

Shared letters: egnw. Private to "gewähren": hrä. Private to "gewannen": a.

"gewähren" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC  ·  "gewannen" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • gewannen ← egwannen · geawnnen · gewanen · gewanenn · gewannenn · gewannne · gewnanen · gewwannen

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "gewähren" and "gewannen" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ɡəˈvɛːʁən] versus [ɡəˈvanən]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "gewähren" or "gewannen"?
"gewannen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,053 in our German list, against #7,328 for "gewähren". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "gewähren" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "gewannen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,951,597 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "gewähren" and "gewannen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "gemahlen vs gewähren". 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 #1,951,597 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