GattenvsglatterConfusable pair

Quick tell: Gatten is a noun, glatter is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Gatten” is a noun and “glatter” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#18,552
“Gatten” frequency rank
#28,224
“glatter” frequency rank
46776
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Gatten glatter
Definition Genitiv Singular des Substantivs Gatte Nominativ Singular Maskulinum Positiv der starken Flexion des Adjektivs glatt

Where the eye mixes Gatten and glatter

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

6 ch
Gatten
7 ch
glatter

Visual trap between Gatten and glatter

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Gatten is [ˈɡatn̩] while glatter is [ˈɡlatɐ]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 46776, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Gatten is recorded at frequency rank #18,552, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈɡatn̩]. glatter is at rank #28,224, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈɡlatɐ].

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 46776, this pair ranks #1,307,392 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Gatten vs glatter

Shared letters: aegt. Private to "Gatten": n. Private to "glatter": lr.

"Gatten" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "glatter" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Gattenagtten · gaten · gatetn · gattenn · gattne · ggatten · gtaten
  • glattergaltter · gglatter · glater · glatetr · glatterr · glattre · gllatter · gltater

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Gatten" for "glatter" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Gatten" is a noun and "glatter" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "Gatten" or "glatter" show up more?
"Gatten" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #18,552 in our German list, against #28,224 for "glatter". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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 "Gatten" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "glatter" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,307,392 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Gatten" and "glatter" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Glatteis vs glatter". 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 #1,307,392 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