GästenvsGastesWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#5,374
“Gästen” frequency rank
#41,831
“Gastes” frequency rank
47205
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Gästen Gastes
Definition Dativ Plural des Substantivs Gast Genitiv Singular des Substantivs Gast

Where the eye mixes Gästen and Gastes

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

6 ch
Gästen
6 ch
Gastes

Visual trap between Gästen and Gastes

A purely visual mix-up. Gästen ([ˈɡɛstn̩]) and Gastes ([ˈɡastəs]) 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 47205, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Gästen is recorded at frequency rank #5,374, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈɡɛstn̩]. Gastes is at rank #41,831, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈɡastəs].

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 47205, this pair ranks #1,292,581 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Gästen vs Gastes

Shared letters: egst. Private to "Gästen": nä. Private to "Gastes": a.

"Gästen" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "Gastes" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Gastes ← agstes · gasets · gasstes · gastess · gastse · gasttes · gatses · ggastes

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Gästen" and "Gastes" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈɡɛstn̩] versus [ˈɡastəs]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Gästen" or "Gastes"?
"Gästen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,374 in our German list, against #41,831 for "Gastes". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Gästen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Gastes" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,292,581 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Gästen" and "Gastes" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Gases vs Gastes". 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 #1,292,581 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