Which to use
“verfangen” is a verb and “vergangene” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #40,277
- “verfangen” frequency rank
- #10,194
- “vergangene” frequency rank
- 50471
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | verfangen | vergangene |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | den gewünschten oder beabsichtigten Erfolg haben; wirken | Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs vergangen |
Where the eye mixes verfangen and vergangene
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. verfangen runs 9 letters (CVCCVCCVC) against vergangene's 10 (CVCCVCCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: verfangen vs vergangene
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: verfangen is [fɛɐ̯ˈfaŋən] while vergangene is [fɛɐ̯ˈɡaŋənə]. 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 50471, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
verfangen is recorded at frequency rank #40,277, classified as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈfaŋən]. vergangene is at rank #10,194, tagged as anadj, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈɡaŋənə].
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 50471, this pair ranks #1,172,488 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of verfangen vs vergangene
Shared letters: aegnrv. Private to "verfangen": f. Private to "vergangene": -.
"verfangen" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC · "vergangene" · 10 letters · shape CVCCVCCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- verfangen ← evrfangen · vefrangen · verafngen · verfagnen · verfanegn · verfangenn · verfanggen · verfangne
- vergangene ← evrgangene · vegrangene · veragngene · vergagnene · verganegne · vergangeen · verganggene · vergangnee
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "verfangen" for "vergangene" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "verfangen" or "vergangene" show up more?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "verfangen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "vergangene" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,172,488 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "verfangen" and "vergangene" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "verfangen vs verjagen". 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 #1,172,488 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.