gähnen

/[ˈɡɛːnən]/ verb

Letters

6 characters

Frequency Rank

#42,551

in German word usage

Misspellings

9

tracked variants

Confusables

17

similar word pairs

gähnen is aGermanverb. It means: den Mund mit Einatmen und Ausatmen als Zeichen der Müdigkeit weit aufsperren Pronounced [ˈɡɛːnən]. Often confused with gehen and Genen.

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

Frequency rank visualization

Position of gähnen in German word frequency (lower rank = more common)

Source: Wordfreq corpus

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The German entry for gähnen is 6 letters long, classified as averb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as [ˈɡɛːnən]. Corpus data places it at rank #42,551 in overall German word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it.The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "den Mund mit Einatmen und Ausatmen als Zeichen der Müdigkeit weit aufsperren".

Our Hunspell-derived misspelling index lists 9 documented wrong-spelling variants for gähnen, with forms such as "ggähnen", "ghänen", and "gähenn". Each variant represents a distinct typo pattern that appears often enough in corpora to be worth flagging, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution.It also participates in 17 confusable-pair relationships, "gehen", "Genen", "gasen", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

No explicit etymology string is stored for this entry, so spelling patterns must be inferred from the word's phoneme-to-grapheme mapping rather than from a documented borrowing chain. For readers arriving here from a spelling check, the authoritative guidance is: the correct German form is gähnen, spelled G-Ä-H-N-E-N, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.

Definition

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

This word in other languages

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: ggähnen,ghänen,gähenn,gähhnen,gähnenn,gähnne,gähnnen,gänhen,äghnen

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

Relative frequency of common misspelling types for gähnen

Misspelling Variants of "gähnen"

ggähnen7ghänen6gähenn6gähhnen7gähnenn7gähnne6gähnnen7gänhen6
Misspelling Variants of "gähnen"

Frequency rank: #42,551 in German

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.

Nearby German words

Other entries that begin with the letter G in our German index:

Explore PlainSpell

Data Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Frequency data from Wordfreq. Misspellings derived from Hunspell dictionaries.