geballtenvsgefallenWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#49,696
“geballten” frequency rank
#904
“gefallen” frequency rank
50600
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature geballten gefallen
Definition Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs geballt im Krieg durch Feindeinwirkung gestorben

Where the eye mixes geballten and gefallen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. geballten runs 9 letters (CVCVCCCVC) against gefallen's 8 (CVCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

9 ch
geballten
8 ch
gefallen

Visual trap between geballten and gefallen

A purely visual mix-up. geballten ([ɡəˈbaltn̩]) and gefallen ([ɡəˈfalən]) 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 50600, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

geballten is recorded at frequency rank #49,696, classified as anadj, pronounced [ɡəˈbaltn̩]. gefallen is at rank #904, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ɡəˈfalən].

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 50600, this pair ranks #1,167,544 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of geballten vs gefallen

Shared letters: aegln. Private to "geballten": bt. Private to "gefallen": f.

"geballten" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCCCVC  ·  "gefallen" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • geballten ← egballten · gbeallten · geabllten · geballetn · geballtenn · geballtne · geballtten · gebalten
  • gefallen ← egfallen · geafllen · gefaleln · gefalen · gefallenn · gefallne · geffallen · geflalen

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "geballten" for "gefallen" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ɡəˈbaltn̩] versus [ɡəˈfalən]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "geballten" or "gefallen"?
"gefallen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #904 in our German list, against #49,696 for "geballten". 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 "geballten" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "gefallen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,167,544 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "geballten" and "gefallen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "geballten vs gewollten". 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 #1,167,544 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