Which to use
“vergangen” is an adjective and “verhängen” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #8,001
- “vergangen” frequency rank
- #27,545
- “verhängen” frequency rank
- 35546
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | vergangen | verhängen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | nicht mehr aktuell; in der Vergangenheit liegend | etwas mit einem Tuch oder dergleichen zuhängen, verbergen |
Where the eye mixes vergangen and verhängen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. vergangen and verhängen follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Look-alike desk: vergangen vs verhängen
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: vergangen is [fɛɐ̯ˈɡaŋən] while verhängen is [fɛɐ̯ˈhɛŋən]. 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 (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 35546, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
vergangen is recorded at frequency rank #8,001, classified as anadj, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈɡaŋən]. verhängen is at rank #27,545, tagged as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈhɛŋən].
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 35546, this pair ranks #1,637,399 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of vergangen vs verhängen
Shared letters: egnrv. Private to "vergangen": a. Private to "verhängen": hä.
"vergangen" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC · "verhängen" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- vergangen ← evrgangen · vegrangen · veragngen · vergagnen · verganegn · vergangenn · verganggen · vergangne
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "vergangen" for "verhängen" ever safe?
Which is more common, "vergangen" or "verhängen"?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "vergangen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "verhängen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,637,399 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "vergangen" and "verhängen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "verhängen 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 #1,637,399 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.