vergessenvsvergeudenWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#625
“vergessen” frequency rank
#43,580
“vergeuden” frequency rank
44205
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature vergessen vergeuden
Definition in Moment/bestimmter Situation nicht daran gedacht, nicht daran erinnert etwas erfolglos, sinnlos, planlos, unrationell aufwenden

Where the spellings diverge

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

9 ch
vergessen
9 ch
vergeuden

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: vergessen is [fɛɐ̯ˈɡɛsn̩] while vergeuden is [fɛɐ̯ˈɡɔɪ̯dn̩]. 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 44205, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

vergessen is recorded at frequency rank #625, classified as anadj, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈɡɛsn̩]. vergeuden is at rank #43,580, tagged as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈɡɔɪ̯dn̩].

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 44205, this pair ranks #1,393,584 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of vergessen vs vergeuden

Shared letters: egnrv. Private to "vergessen": s. Private to "vergeuden": du.

"vergessen" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC  ·  "vergeuden" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • vergessenevrgessen · vegressen · veregssen · vergesen · vergesesn · vergessenn · vergessne · vergeßen
  • vergeudenevrgeuden · vegreuden · vereguden · vergeduen · vergeudden · vergeudenn · vergeudne · vergeuedn

Frequency comparison

vergessen#625
vergeuden#43,580

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "vergessen" and "vergeuden" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "vergessen" is an adjective and "vergeuden" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "vergessen" or "vergeuden"?
"vergessen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #625 in our German list, against #43,580 for "vergeuden". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering vergessen vs vergeuden

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 “vergeuden”.
  • 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