vergehenvsversehenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#6,606
“vergehen” frequency rank
#2,566
“versehen” frequency rank
9172
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature vergehen versehen
Definition (rasch) zu Ende kommen jemanden oder etwas mit etwas ausstatten

Where the eye mixes vergehen and versehen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence.

8 ch
vergehen
8 ch
versehen

Visual trap between vergehen and versehen

A purely visual mix-up. vergehen ([fɛɐ̯ˈɡeːən]) and versehen ([fɛɐ̯ˈzeːən]) 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 a single letter - g in “vergehen” becomes s in “versehen”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 9172, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

vergehen is recorded at frequency rank #6,606, classified as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈɡeːən]. versehen is at rank #2,566, tagged as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈzeːən].

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 9172, this pair ranks #1,981,160 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of vergehen vs versehen

Shared letters: ehnrv. Private to "vergehen": g. Private to "versehen": s.

"vergehen" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC  ·  "versehen" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • vergehenevrgehen · vegrehen · vereghen · vergeehn · vergehenn · vergehhen · vergehne · verggehen
  • versehenevrsehen · vereshen · verrsehen · verseehn · versehenn · versehhen · versehne · versheen

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "vergehen" and "versehen" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([fɛɐ̯ˈɡeːən] versus [fɛɐ̯ˈzeːən]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "vergehen" vs "versehen" - which ranks higher?
"versehen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,566 in our German list, against #6,606 for "vergehen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "vergehen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "versehen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,981,160 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "vergehen" and "versehen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Vergaben vs vergehen". 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 #1,981,160 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