zurückgekommenvszurückgenommenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#22,585
“zurückgekommen” frequency rank
#22,229
“zurückgenommen” frequency rank
44814
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature zurückgekommen zurückgenommen
Definition Partizip Perfekt des Verbs zurückkommen Partizip Perfekt des Verbs zurücknehmen

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set zurückgekommen and zurückgenommen apart are highlighted. They share 13 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

14 ch
zurückgekommen
14 ch
zurückgenommen

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. zurückgekommen ([t͡suˈʁʏkɡəˌkɔmən]) and zurückgenommen ([t͡suˈʁʏkɡəˌnɔmən]) 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 - k in “zurückgekommen” becomes n in “zurückgenommen”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 44814, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

zurückgekommen is recorded at frequency rank #22,585, classified as averb, pronounced [t͡suˈʁʏkɡəˌkɔmən]. zurückgenommen is at rank #22,229, tagged as averb, pronounced [t͡suˈʁʏkɡəˌnɔmən].

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 44814, this pair ranks #1,373,869 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of zurückgekommen vs zurückgenommen

Shared letters: cegkmnoruzü. Private to "zurückgekommen": -. Private to "zurückgenommen": -.

"zurückgekommen" · 14 letters · shape CVCVCCCVCVCCVC  ·  "zurückgenommen" · 14 letters · shape CVCVCCCVCVCCVC

Frequency comparison

zurückgekommen#22,585
zurückgenommen#22,229

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "zurückgekommen" and "zurückgenommen" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([t͡suˈʁʏkɡəˌkɔmən] versus [t͡suˈʁʏkɡəˌnɔmən]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "zurückgekommen" or "zurückgenommen"?
"zurückgenommen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #22,229 in our German list, against #22,585 for "zurückgekommen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering zurückgekommen vs zurückgenommen

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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

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