gedachtvsgemähtWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#855
“gedacht” frequency rank
#47,435
“gemäht” frequency rank
48290
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature gedacht gemäht
Definition Partizip Perfekt des Verbs denken Partizip Perfekt des Verbs mähen

Where the eye mixes gedacht and gemäht

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. gedacht runs 7 letters (CVCVCCC) against gemäht's 6 (CVCVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

7 ch
gedacht
6 ch
gemäht

Visual trap between gedacht and gemäht

A purely visual mix-up. gedacht ([ɡəˈdaxt]) and gemäht ([ɡəˈmɛːt]) 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 48290, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

gedacht is recorded at frequency rank #855, classified as averb, pronounced [ɡəˈdaxt]. gemäht is at rank #47,435, tagged as averb, pronounced [ɡəˈmɛːt].

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 48290, this pair ranks #1,253,988 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of gedacht vs gemäht

Shared letters: eght. Private to "gedacht": acd. Private to "gemäht": mä.

"gedacht" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCC  ·  "gemäht" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • gedacht ← egdacht · gdeacht · geadcht · gedaccht · gedachht · gedachtt · gedacth · gedahct

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "gedacht" for "gemäht" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ɡəˈdaxt] versus [ɡəˈmɛːt]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "gedacht" vs "gemäht" - which ranks higher?
"gedacht" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #855 in our German list, against #47,435 for "gemäht". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "gedacht" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "gemäht" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,253,988 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "gedacht" and "gemäht" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "gemäht vs gemixt". 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 #1,253,988 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