Which to use
“verdrängen” is a verb and “vergangen” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #13,721
- “verdrängen” frequency rank
- #8,001
- “vergangen” frequency rank
- 21722
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | verdrängen | vergangen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | jemanden oder etwas von seiner Stelle drängen oder schieben; den Platz von etwas einnehmen | nicht mehr aktuell; in der Vergangenheit liegend |
Where the eye mixes verdrängen and vergangen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. verdrängen runs 10 letters (CVCCCVCCVC) against vergangen's 9 (CVCCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between verdrängen and vergangen
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: verdrängen is [fɛɐ̯ˈdʁɛŋən] while vergangen is [fɛɐ̯ˈɡaŋən]. 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 adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 21722, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
verdrängen is recorded at frequency rank #13,721, classified as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈdʁɛŋən]. 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 21722, this pair ranks #1,882,918 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of verdrängen vs vergangen
Shared letters: egnrv. Private to "verdrängen": dä. Private to "vergangen": a.
"verdrängen" · 10 letters · shape CVCCCVCCVC · "vergangen" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- vergangen ← evrgangen · vegrangen · veragngen · vergagnen · verganegn · vergangenn · verganggen · vergangne
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "verdrängen" and "vergangen" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "verdrängen" vs "vergangen" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "verdrängen" and "vergangen" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "verdrängen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "vergangen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,882,918 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "verdrängen" and "vergangen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "verdrängen vs verdrängten". 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 #1,882,918 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.