gebliebenvsgeliehenWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#2,026
“geblieben” frequency rank
#22,736
“geliehen” frequency rank
24762
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature geblieben geliehen
Definition Partizip Perfekt des Verbs bleiben Partizip Perfekt des Verbs leihen

Where the eye mixes geblieben and geliehen

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

9 ch
geblieben
8 ch
geliehen

Look-alike desk: geblieben vs geliehen

A purely visual mix-up. geblieben ([ɡəˈbliːbn̩]) and geliehen ([ɡəˈliːən]) 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 24762, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

geblieben is recorded at frequency rank #2,026, classified as averb, pronounced [ɡəˈbliːbn̩]. geliehen is at rank #22,736, tagged as averb, pronounced [ɡəˈliːən].

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 24762, this pair ranks #1,843,124 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of geblieben vs geliehen

Shared letters: egiln. Private to "geblieben": b. Private to "geliehen": h.

"geblieben" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVVCVC  ·  "geliehen" · 8 letters · shape CVCVVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • geblieben ← egblieben · gbelieben · gebblieben · gebileben · gebleiben · geblibeen · gebliebben · gebliebenn
  • geliehen ← egliehen · geilehen · geleihen · gelieehn · geliehenn · geliehhen · geliehne · geliheen

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "geblieben" for "geliehen" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ɡəˈbliːbn̩] versus [ɡəˈliːən]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "geblieben" or "geliehen" show up more?
"geblieben" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,026 in our German list, against #22,736 for "geliehen". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "geblieben" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "geliehen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,843,124 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "geblieben" and "geliehen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "geliehen vs gerieben". 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 #1,843,124 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