verbannenvsvergangenWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#23,758
“verbannen” frequency rank
#8,001
“vergangen” frequency rank
31759
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature verbannen vergangen
Definition jemanden mit einem Bann belegen, jemand eines Gebiets verweisen nicht mehr aktuell; in der Vergangenheit liegend

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set verbannen and vergangen apart are highlighted. They share 7 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

9 ch
verbannen
9 ch
vergangen

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: verbannen is [fɛɐ̯ˈbanən] while vergangen is [fɛɐ̯ˈɡaŋən]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 31759, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

verbannen is recorded at frequency rank #23,758, classified as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈbanən]. vergangen is at rank #8,001, tagged as anadj, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈɡaŋən].

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 31759, this pair ranks #1,721,645 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of verbannen vs vergangen

Shared letters: aenrv. Private to "verbannen": b. Private to "vergangen": g.

"verbannen" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC  ·  "vergangen" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • verbannenevrbannen · vebrannen · verabnnen · verbanen · verbanenn · verbannenn · verbannne · verbbannen
  • vergangenevrgangen · vegrangen · veragngen · vergagnen · verganegn · vergangenn · verganggen · vergangne

Frequency comparison

verbannen#23,758
vergangen#8,001

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "verbannen" and "vergangen" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "verbannen" is a verb and "vergangen" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "verbannen" or "vergangen"?
"vergangen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,001 in our German list, against #23,758 for "verbannen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering verbannen vs vergangen

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “verbannen”; for an adjective, it's “vergangen”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “verbannen” 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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list