gatevsgazWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#12,712
“gate” frequency rank
#45,953
“gaz” frequency rank
58665
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature gate gaz
Definition Bewegliche, türähnliche Sperre, die den Zugang zu einem umzäunten oder durch Mauern eingeschlossenen Gelände bildet Gas

Where the eye mixes gate and gaz

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

4 ch
gate
3 ch
gaz

Look-alike desk: gate vs gaz

A purely visual mix-up. gate ([ɡeɪt]) and gaz ([ɡaz]) 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 58665, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

gate is recorded at frequency rank #12,712, classified as anoun, pronounced [ɡeɪt]. gaz is at rank #45,953, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ɡaz].

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 58665, this pair ranks #853,968 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of gate vs gaz

Shared letters: ag. Private to "gate": et. Private to "gaz": z.

"gate" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "gaz" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • gateagte · gaet · ggate · gtae

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "gate" and "gaz" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ɡeɪt] versus [ɡaz]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "gate" or "gaz"?
"gate" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #12,712 in our German list, against #45,953 for "gaz". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "gate" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "gaz" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #853,968 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "gate" and "gaz" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Gao vs gaz". 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 #853,968 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