GebäckvsGemachTell them apart

Which to use

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

#20,586
“Gebäck” frequency rank
#36,353
“Gemach” frequency rank
56939
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Gebäck Gemach
Definition Speise auf Mehlbasis, welche auf einem Backblech oder in einer Form in einem Ofen oder in Fett in einer Pfanne eine ausreichend lange Zeit ausgebacken wurde stilvoll und exklusiv eingerichteter Wohnraum

Where the eye mixes Gebäck and Gemach

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

6 ch
Gebäck
6 ch
Gemach

Visual trap between Gebäck and Gemach

A purely visual mix-up. Gebäck ([ɡəˈbɛk]) and Gemach ([ɡəˈmaːx]) 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 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 56939, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Gebäck is recorded at frequency rank #20,586, classified as anoun, pronounced [ɡəˈbɛk]. Gemach is at rank #36,353, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ɡəˈmaːx].

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 56939, this pair ranks #920,825 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Gebäck vs Gemach

Shared letters: ceg. Private to "Gebäck": bkä. Private to "Gemach": ahm.

"Gebäck" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC  ·  "Gemach" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Gemachegmach · geamch · gemacch · gemachh · gemahc · gemcah · gemmach · ggemach

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Gebäck" and "Gemach" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ɡəˈbɛk] versus [ɡəˈmaːx]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "Gebäck" or "Gemach" show up more?
"Gebäck" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #20,586 in our German list, against #36,353 for "Gemach". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Eye-level mix-up between "Gebäck" and "Gemach" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Gebäck" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Gemach" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #920,825 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Gebäck" and "Gemach" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Gemach vs gemäht". 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 #920,825 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