gähnen

[ˈɡɛːnən]

/[ˈɡɛːnən]/ verb

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

The verdict

“gähnen” has 9 generated spelling variants in the German index at frequency #42,551. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#42,551
frequency rank, German
5,117
“G” headwords
9
tracked misspellings
17
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - den Mund mit Einatmen und Ausatmen als Zeichen der Müdigkeit weit aufsperren

Corpus desk

Index DE-gahnen · gähnen · German

gähnen · rank #42,551 · 9 variants · 17 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #42,551
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 17 pairs
  • VAR-MID 9 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 5,117
  • PHOTO-FINISH haargenau

Nearest frequency peer: haargenau (+1 rank slots)

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Rang-Peers am Tippfehler-Magneten „gähnen“

Gleiche Seltenheitsbandbreite: nützlich, wenn ein Tippfehler auf ein Peer-Lemma trifft

corpus weight

What this shows „gähnen“ sitzt unter diesen FrequencyWords-Peers; die Tippfehlertiefe steht separat im Edit-Distance-Chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

gähnen vs gehen
67% similar
gähnen vs Genen
50% similar
gähnen vs gasen
50% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for gähnen
PropertyValue
Headwordgähnen
LanguageGerman
Part of speechVerb
IPA[ˈɡɛːnən]
Letters6
Frequency rank#42,551
Misspellings tracked9
Confusable pairs17
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Häufigkeitslage von Tippfehler-Magnet „gähnen“

Von links nach rechts: die wenigen Träger des Alltags, dann der lange Schwanz kaum gebrauchter Formen.gähnenliegt hier neben dem Tippfehler-Druck:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Die Ticks laufen logarithmisch; jeder ist rund zehnmal seltener. Peers derselben Seltenheitsbandbreite: „haargenau“ (#42,552), „hagelt“ (#42,553), „halal“ (#42,554). Unter 5,117 „G“-Lemmata liegt „gähnen“ bei #42,551. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 9 spelling variants around gähnen (IPA [ˈɡɛːnən]), averb. Corpus frequency is #42,551 among 5,117 “G” headwords. Dominant gloss: "den Mund mit Einatmen und Ausatmen als Zeichen der Müdigkeit weit aufsperren".

Our generated misspelling index lists 9 likely wrong-spelling variants for gähnen, with forms such as "ggähnen", "ghänen", and "gähenn". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 17 confusable-pair relationships, "gehen", "Genen", "gasen", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

No borrowing history is documented for this entry, so its spelling is best read as a straightforward mapping from sound to letter. The correct German form is gähnen, spelled G-Ä-H-N-E-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    den Mund mit Einatmen und Ausatmen als Zeichen der Müdigkeit weit aufsperren

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how gähnen appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. Während der Aufführung gähnte er mehrfach.
  2. „Während er das sagte, gähnte er lauthals.“

This word in other languages

yawn(English)bostezar(Español)bâiller(Français)bocejar(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • ggähnen
  • ghänen
  • gähenn
  • gähhnen
  • gähnenn
  • gähnne
  • gähnnen
  • gänhen
  • äghnen

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of gähnen - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.

ggähnen1ghänen2gähenn2gähhnen1gähnenn1gähnne2gähnnen1gänhen2
Edit distance from "gähnen"

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 German corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "gähnen"?
"gähnen" is spelled G-Ä-H-N-E-N. The IPA pronunciation is [ˈɡɛːnən].
What does "gähnen" mean?
As a verb, "gähnen" means: den Mund mit Einatmen und Ausatmen als Zeichen der Müdigkeit weit aufsperren
What words are commonly confused with "gähnen"?
"gähnen" is commonly confused with "gehen", "Genen", "gasen". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "gähnen"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "gähnen" is [ˈɡɛːnən]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "gähnen" come from?
"gähnen" is a German word. PlainSpell covers definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar German words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "gähnen", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked German headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

hagelt#42,553Getöse#42,535hitzig#42,577Humors#42,581

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (9 here; floor ≥5).

grimmig9 variantshängte9 variantsHügels9 variantsGedöns9 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list