vergangenvsverhängtenWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#8,001
“vergangen” frequency rank
#42,912
“verhängten” frequency rank
50913
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature vergangen verhängten
Definition nicht mehr aktuell; in der Vergangenheit liegend Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs verhängt

Where the eye mixes vergangen and verhängten

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. vergangen runs 9 letters (CVCCVCCVC) against verhängten's 10 (CVCCVCCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

9 ch
vergangen
10 ch
verhängten

Visual trap between vergangen and verhängten

A purely visual mix-up. vergangen ([fɛɐ̯ˈɡaŋən]) and verhängten ([fɛɐ̯ˈhɛŋtn̩]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 50913, 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]. verhängten is at rank #42,912, tagged as anadj, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈhɛŋtn̩].

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 50913, this pair ranks #1,155,578 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of vergangen vs verhängten

Shared letters: egnrv. Private to "vergangen": a. Private to "verhängten": htä.

"vergangen" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC  ·  "verhängten" · 10 letters · shape CVCCVCCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • vergangenevrgangen · vegrangen · veragngen · vergagnen · verganegn · vergangenn · verganggen · vergangne

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "vergangen" and "verhängten" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([fɛɐ̯ˈɡaŋən] versus [fɛɐ̯ˈhɛŋtn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "vergangen" vs "verhängten" - which ranks higher?
"vergangen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,001 in our German list, against #42,912 for "verhängten". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Eye-level mix-up between "vergangen" and "verhängten" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "vergangen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "verhängten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,155,578 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "vergangen" and "verhängten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "verdrängten vs verhängten". 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 #1,155,578 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