GästevsgesteWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#1,597
“Gäste” frequency rank
#8,566
“geste” frequency rank
10163
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Gäste geste
Definition Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Gast Gebärde, Geste

Where the eye mixes Gäste and geste

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

5 ch
Gäste
5 ch
geste

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. Gäste ([ˈɡɛstə]) and geste ([ʒɛst]) 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 a single letter - ä in “Gäste” becomes e in “geste”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 10163, 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]. geste is at rank #8,566, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ʒɛst].

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 10163, this pair ranks #1,976,487 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Gäste vs geste

Shared letters: egst. Private to "Gäste": ä. Private to "geste": -.

"Gäste" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "geste" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • gesteegste · geset · gesste · gestte · getse · ggeste · gsete

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Gäste" and "geste" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈɡɛstə] versus [ʒɛst]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Gäste" or "geste"?
"Gäste" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,597 in our German list, against #8,566 for "geste". 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 "geste". Here's where to go from here.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Gäste" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "geste" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,976,487 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Gäste" and "geste" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "geste vs Gustl". Nearby pair
  • Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes

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