GästevsgustoWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#1,597
“Gäste” frequency rank
#36,376
“gusto” frequency rank
37973
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Gäste gusto
Definition Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Gast Geschmack

Where the eye mixes Gäste and gusto

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. Gäste and gusto follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

5 ch
Gäste
5 ch
gusto

Look-alike desk: Gäste vs gusto

A purely visual mix-up. Gäste ([ˈɡɛstə]) and gusto ([ˈɡusto]) 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 37973, 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]. gusto is at rank #36,376, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈɡusto].

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 37973, this pair ranks #1,576,207 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Gäste vs gusto

Shared letters: gst. Private to "Gäste": eä. Private to "gusto": ou.

"Gäste" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "gusto" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • gusto ← ggusto · gsuto · gusot · gussto · gustto · gutso · ugsto

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Gäste" and "gusto" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈɡɛstə] versus [ˈɡusto]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "Gäste" or "gusto" show up more?
"Gäste" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,597 in our German list, against #36,376 for "gusto". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Gäste" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "gusto" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,576,207 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Gäste" and "gusto" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Gustl vs gusto". 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

Confusion rank #1,576,207 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