GänsevsGästeConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#25,160
“Gänse” frequency rank
#1,597
“Gäste” frequency rank
26757
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Gänse Gäste
Definition Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Gans Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Gast

Where the eye mixes Gänse and Gäste

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. Gänse and Gäste follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

5 ch
Gänse
5 ch
Gäste

Look-alike desk: Gänse vs Gäste

A purely visual mix-up. Gänse ([ˈɡɛnzə]) and Gäste ([ˈɡɛstə]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 26757, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Gänse is recorded at frequency rank #25,160, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈɡɛnzə]. Gäste is at rank #1,597, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈɡɛstə].

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 26757, this pair ranks #1,812,907 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Gänse vs Gäste

Shared letters: egsä. Private to "Gänse": n. Private to "Gäste": t.

"Gänse" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "Gäste" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Gänse" for "Gäste" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈɡɛnzə] versus [ˈɡɛstə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "Gänse" vs "Gäste" - which ranks higher?
"Gäste" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,597 in our German list, against #25,160 for "Gänse". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

After this comparison

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Gänse" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Gäste" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,812,907 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Gänse" and "Gäste" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Gänse vs Gases". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #1,812,907 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