verfangenvsvergingenTell them apart

Which to use

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

#40,277
“verfangen” frequency rank
#31,341
“vergingen” frequency rank
71618
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature verfangen vergingen
Definition den gewünschten oder beabsichtigten Erfolg haben; wirken 1. Person Plural Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs vergehen

Where the eye mixes verfangen and vergingen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. verfangen and vergingen follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

9 ch
verfangen
9 ch
vergingen

Visual trap between verfangen and vergingen

A purely visual mix-up. verfangen ([fɛɐ̯ˈfaŋən]) and vergingen ([fɛɐ̯ˈɡɪŋən]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 71618, 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]. vergingen is at rank #31,341, tagged as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈɡɪŋən].

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 71618, this pair ranks #411,666 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of verfangen vs vergingen

Shared letters: egnrv. Private to "verfangen": af. Private to "vergingen": i.

"verfangen" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC  ·  "vergingen" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • verfangenevrfangen · vefrangen · verafngen · verfagnen · verfanegn · verfangenn · verfanggen · verfangne
  • vergingenevrgingen · vegringen · verggingen · vergignen · verginegn · vergingenn · verginggen · vergingne

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "verfangen" and "vergingen" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([fɛɐ̯ˈfaŋən] versus [fɛɐ̯ˈɡɪŋən]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "verfangen" or "vergingen"?
"vergingen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #31,341 in our German list, against #40,277 for "verfangen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "verfangen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "vergingen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #411,666 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "verfangen" and "vergingen" 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 #411,666 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