vergessenevsvergossenWhich spelling fits?

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

Which to use

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

#19,751
“vergessene” frequency rank
#40,282
“vergossen” frequency rank
60033
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature vergessene vergossen
Definition Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs vergessen 1. Person Plural Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs vergießen

Where the eye mixes vergessene and vergossen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. vergessene runs 10 letters (CVCCVCCVCV) against vergossen's 9 (CVCCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

10 ch
vergessene
9 ch
vergossen

Why the eye confuses vergessene with vergossen

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: vergessene is [fɛɐ̯ˈɡɛsənə] while vergossen is [fɛɐ̯ˈɡɔsn̩]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 60033, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

vergessene is recorded at frequency rank #19,751, classified as anadj, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈɡɛsənə]. vergossen is at rank #40,282, tagged as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈɡɔsn̩].

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 60033, this pair ranks #802,113 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of vergessene vs vergossen

Shared letters: egnrsv. Private to "vergessene": -. Private to "vergossen": o.

"vergessene" · 10 letters · shape CVCCVCCVCV  ·  "vergossen" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • vergesseneevrgessene · vegressene · veregssene · vergesene · vergesesne · vergesseen · vergessenne · vergessnee
  • vergossenevrgossen · vegrossen · verggossen · vergosen · vergosesn · vergossenn · vergossne · vergoßen

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "vergessene" and "vergossen" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "vergessene" is an adjective and "vergossen" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "vergessene" vs "vergossen" - which ranks higher?
"vergessene" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #19,751 in our German list, against #40,282 for "vergossen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "vergessene" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "vergossen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #802,113 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "vergessene" and "vergossen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "verbissen vs vergossen". 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 #802,113 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