GästevsGästenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#1,597
“Gäste” frequency rank
#5,374
“Gästen” frequency rank
6971
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Gäste Gästen
Definition Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Gast Dativ Plural des Substantivs Gast

Where the eye mixes Gäste and Gästen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.

5 ch
Gäste
6 ch
Gästen

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. Gäste ([ˈɡɛstə]) and Gästen ([ˈɡɛstn̩]) 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 extra letter(s) - “Gäste” sits inside “Gästen”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 6971, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Gäste is recorded at frequency rank #1,597, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈɡɛstə]. Gästen is at rank #5,374, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈɡɛstn̩].

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 6971, this pair ranks #1,989,847 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Gäste vs Gästen

Shared letters: egstä. Private to "Gäste": -. Private to "Gästen": n.

"Gäste" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "Gästen" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Gäste" and "Gästen" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈɡɛstə] versus [ˈɡɛstn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Gäste" or "Gästen"?
"Gäste" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,597 in our German list, against #5,374 for "Gästen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

You've compared "Gäste" and "Gästen". Here's where to go from here.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Gäste" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Gästen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,989,847 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Gäste" and "Gästen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Gases vs Gästen". Nearby pair

PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list