hergehen
[ˈheːɐ̯ˌɡeːən]
The verdict
“hergehen” is an uncommon German word, ranked #69,349 in German word frequency and used as a verb.
- #69,349
- frequency rank, German
- 8
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - begleitend hinter, neben oder vor jemandem oder etwas gehen
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | hergehen |
| Language | German |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | [ˈheːɐ̯ˌɡeːən] |
| Letters | 8 |
| Frequency rank | #69,349 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “hergehen” sits in German frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The German entry for hergehen is 8 letters long, classified as a verb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as [ˈheːɐ̯ˌɡeːən]. Corpus data places it at rank #69,349 in overall German word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 4 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
No generated misspelling entries exist for hergehen in our index, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable German rules. This headword has no recorded confusable partner, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.
This entry's etymology isn't recorded, leaving phoneme-to-grapheme mapping as the best guide to its spelling rather than a borrowing history. The correct German form is hergehen, spelled H-E-R-G-E-H-E-N.
Definition
- 1begleitend hinter, neben oder vor jemandem oder etwas gehen
- 2sich gehend in Richtung des Sprechenden bewegen
- 3auf eine bestimmte Weise vonstattengehen
- 4die Initiative ergreifen
This word in other languages
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
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Using “hergehen”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct German spelling is H-E-R-G-E-H-E-N - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as [ˈheːɐ̯ˌɡeːən] (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Browse more German words and confusable pairs in the same reference. German words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.