zurückgehenvszurückgehtWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#11,157
“zurückgehen” frequency rank
#18,448
“zurückgeht” frequency rank
29605
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature zurückgehen zurückgeht
Definition den Punkt, von dem man aufgebrochen ist, wieder aufsuchen 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv der Nebensatzkonjugation des Verbs zurückgehen

Where the eye mixes zurückgehen and zurückgeht

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence. zurückgehen runs 11 letters (CVCVCCCVCVC) against zurückgeht's 10 (CVCVCCCVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

11 ch
zurückgehen
10 ch
zurückgeht

Visual trap between zurückgehen and zurückgeht

A purely visual mix-up. zurückgehen ([t͡suˈʁʏkˌɡeːən]) and zurückgeht ([t͡suˈʁʏkˌɡeːt]) 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 29605, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

zurückgehen is recorded at frequency rank #11,157, classified as averb, pronounced [t͡suˈʁʏkˌɡeːən]. zurückgeht is at rank #18,448, tagged as averb, pronounced [t͡suˈʁʏkˌɡeːt].

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 29605, this pair ranks #1,763,728 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of zurückgehen vs zurückgeht

Shared letters: ceghkruzü. Private to "zurückgehen": n. Private to "zurückgeht": t.

"zurückgehen" · 11 letters · shape CVCVCCCVCVC  ·  "zurückgeht" · 10 letters · shape CVCVCCCVCC

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "zurückgehen" and "zurückgeht" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([t͡suˈʁʏkˌɡeːən] versus [t͡suˈʁʏkˌɡeːt]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "zurückgehen" or "zurückgeht" show up more?
"zurückgehen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #11,157 in our German list, against #18,448 for "zurückgeht". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "zurückgehen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "zurückgeht" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,763,728 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "zurückgehen" and "zurückgeht" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "zurückgeholt vs zurückgeht". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #1,763,728 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