vergessenvsvergesstWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: vergessen is a adjective, vergesst is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“vergessen” is an adjective and “vergesst” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#625
“vergessen” frequency rank
#12,409
“vergesst” frequency rank
13034
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature vergessen vergesst
Definition in Moment/bestimmter Situation nicht daran gedacht, nicht daran erinnert 2. Person Plural Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs vergessen

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set vergessen and vergesst apart are highlighted. They share 7 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

9 ch
vergessen
8 ch
vergesst

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

vergessen and vergesst form a confusable pair in the German index, two distinct headwords that are easily confused because they look alike, sound alike, or both. They differ by 1 letter(s) in length - close enough that the eye skips over the difference, far enough that meaning fully diverges. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 13034, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

vergessen is recorded at frequency rank #625, classified as anadj, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈɡɛsn̩]. vergesst is at rank #12,409, tagged as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈɡɛst].

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 13034, this pair ranks #1,960,527 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Frequency comparison

vergessen#625
vergesst#12,409

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "vergessen" and "vergesst" be used interchangeably?
No, "vergessen" and "vergesst" have distinct meanings and cannot be swapped without changing the meaning of a sentence. Understanding the specific definition and context for each word is essential for correct usage.

Remembering vergessen vs vergesst

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “vergessen”; for a verb, it's “vergesst”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “vergessen” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list