gebenvsGelenkTell them apart

Quick tell: geben is a verb, Gelenk is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“geben” is a verb and “Gelenk” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#229
“geben” frequency rank
#23,533
“Gelenk” frequency rank
23762
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature geben Gelenk
Definition jemandem etwas reichen beziehungsweise in die Nähe oder Hände legen bewegliche Verbindung von Knochen

Where the eye mixes geben and Gelenk

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

5 ch
geben
6 ch
Gelenk

Why the eye confuses geben with Gelenk

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: geben is [ˈɡeːbn̩] while Gelenk is [ɡəˈlɛŋk]. 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 (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 23762, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

geben is recorded at frequency rank #229, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈɡeːbn̩]. Gelenk is at rank #23,533, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ɡəˈlɛŋk].

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 23762, this pair ranks #1,856,919 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of geben vs Gelenk

Shared letters: egn. Private to "geben": b. Private to "Gelenk": kl.

"geben" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "Gelenk" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • gebenegben · gbeen · gebben · gebenn · gebne · geebn · ggeben
  • Gelenkeglenk · geelnk · gelekn · gelenkk · gelennk · gellenk · gelnek · ggelenk

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "geben" and "Gelenk" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "geben" is a verb and "Gelenk" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "geben" or "Gelenk"?
"geben" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #229 in our German list, against #23,533 for "Gelenk". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "geben" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Gelenk" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,856,919 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "geben" and "Gelenk" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "geleakt vs Gelenk". 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 #1,856,919 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