vergebevsvergehenWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#45,653
“vergebe” frequency rank
#6,606
“vergehen” frequency rank
52259
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature vergebe vergehen
Definition 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs vergeben (rasch) zu Ende kommen

Where the eye mixes vergebe and vergehen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. vergebe runs 7 letters (CVCCVCV) against vergehen's 8 (CVCCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

7 ch
vergebe
8 ch
vergehen

Why the eye confuses vergebe with vergehen

A purely visual mix-up. vergebe ([fɛɐ̯ˈɡeːbə]) and vergehen ([fɛɐ̯ˈɡeːən]) 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 52259, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

vergebe is recorded at frequency rank #45,653, classified as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈɡeːbə]. vergehen is at rank #6,606, tagged as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈɡeːən].

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 52259, this pair ranks #1,103,809 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of vergebe vs vergehen

Shared letters: egrv. Private to "vergebe": b. Private to "vergehen": hn.

"vergebe" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV  ·  "vergehen" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • vergebe ← evrgebe · vegrebe · veregbe · vergbee · vergebbe · vergeeb · verggebe · verrgebe
  • vergehen ← evrgehen · vegrehen · vereghen · vergeehn · vergehenn · vergehhen · vergehne · verggehen

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "vergebe" for "vergehen" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([fɛɐ̯ˈɡeːbə] versus [fɛɐ̯ˈɡeːən]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "vergebe" or "vergehen" show up more?
"vergehen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,606 in our German list, against #45,653 for "vergebe". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "vergebe" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "vergehen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,103,809 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "vergebe" and "vergehen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Vergaben vs vergebe". 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 #1,103,809 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