umziehenvsumzugehenWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#9,823
“umziehen” frequency rank
#9,647
“umzugehen” frequency rank
19470
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature umziehen umzugehen
Definition den Wohnsitz wechseln erweiterter Infinitiv Aktiv des Verbs umgehen

Where the eye mixes umziehen and umzugehen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. umziehen runs 8 letters (VCCVVCVC) against umzugehen's 9 (VCCVCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

8 ch
umziehen
9 ch
umzugehen

Why the eye confuses umziehen with umzugehen

A purely visual mix-up. umziehen ([ˈʊmˌt͡siːən]) and umzugehen ([ˈʊmt͡suɡeːən]) 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 19470, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

umziehen is recorded at frequency rank #9,823, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈʊmˌt͡siːən]. umzugehen is at rank #9,647, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈʊmt͡suɡeːən].

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 19470, this pair ranks #1,908,008 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of umziehen vs umzugehen

Shared letters: ehmnuz. Private to "umziehen": i. Private to "umzugehen": g.

"umziehen" · 8 letters · shape VCCVVCVC  ·  "umzugehen" · 9 letters · shape VCCVCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • umziehen ← muziehen · umizehen · ummziehen · umzeihen · umzieehn · umziehenn · umziehhen · umziehne
  • umzugehen ← muzugehen · ummzugehen · umuzgehen · umzguehen · umzueghen · umzugeehn · umzugehenn · umzugehhen

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "umziehen" for "umzugehen" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈʊmˌt͡siːən] versus [ˈʊmt͡suɡeːən]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "umziehen" vs "umzugehen" - which ranks higher?
"umzugehen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #9,647 in our German list, against #9,823 for "umziehen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "umziehen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "umzugehen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,908,008 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "umziehen" and "umzugehen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "umzugehen vs umzukehren". 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 #1,908,008 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