gönnvsgunConfusable pair

Quick tell: gönn is a verb, gun is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“gönn” is a verb and “gun” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#25,582
“gönn” frequency rank
#20,283
“gun” frequency rank
45865
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature gönn gun
Definition 2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs gönnen Feuerwaffe, Schusswaffe

Where the eye mixes gönn and gun

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

4 ch
gönn
3 ch
gun

Visual trap between gönn and gun

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: gönn is [ɡœn] while gun is [ɡʌn]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 45865, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

gönn is recorded at frequency rank #25,582, classified as averb, pronounced [ɡœn]. gun is at rank #20,283, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ɡʌn].

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 45865, this pair ranks #1,338,541 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of gönn vs gun

Shared letters: gn. Private to "gönn": ö. Private to "gun": u.

"gönn" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "gun" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "gönn" for "gun" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "gönn" is a verb and "gun" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "gönn" or "gun" show up more?
"gun" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #20,283 in our German list, against #25,582 for "gönn". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Eye-level mix-up between "gönn" and "gun" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "gönn" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "gun" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,338,541 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "gönn" and "gun" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Goch vs gönn". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #1,338,541 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