GastvsGästeWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#2,150
“Gast” frequency rank
#1,597
“Gäste” frequency rank
3747
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Gast Gäste
Definition Person, die unentgeltlich oder gegen Entgelt beherbergt, bewirtet oder befördert wird Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Gast

Where the eye mixes Gast and Gäste

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

4 ch
Gast
5 ch
Gäste

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. Gast ([ɡast]) 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 differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 3747, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Gast is recorded at frequency rank #2,150, classified as anoun, pronounced [ɡast]. 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 3747, this pair ranks #1,999,463 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Gast vs Gäste

Shared letters: gst. Private to "Gast": a. Private to "Gäste": .

"Gast" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "Gäste" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Gastagst · gasst · gastt · gats · ggast · gsat

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Gast" and "Gäste" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ɡast] versus [ˈɡɛstə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Gast" or "Gäste"?
"Gäste" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,597 in our German list, against #2,150 for "Gast". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list