gedehntvsgelehntWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: gedehnt is a adjective, gelehnt is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“gedehnt” is an adjective and “gelehnt” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#49,699
“gedehnt” frequency rank
#47,430
“gelehnt” frequency rank
97129
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature gedehnt gelehnt
Definition zeitlich: etwas, was sich in die Länge zieht, was lange dauert Partizip Perfekt des Verbs lehnen

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set gedehnt and gelehnt apart are highlighted. They share 6 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch
gedehnt
7 ch
gelehnt

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: gedehnt is [ɡəˈdeːnt] while gelehnt is [ɡəˈleːnt]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - d in “gedehnt” becomes l in “gelehnt”, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 97129, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

gedehnt is recorded at frequency rank #49,699, classified as anadj, pronounced [ɡəˈdeːnt]. gelehnt is at rank #47,430, tagged as averb, pronounced [ɡəˈleːnt].

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 97129, this pair ranks #4,784 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of gedehnt vs gelehnt

Shared letters: eghnt. Private to "gedehnt": d. Private to "gelehnt": l.

"gedehnt" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCC  ·  "gelehnt" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • gedehntegdehnt · gdeehnt · geddehnt · gedehhnt · gedehnnt · gedehntt · gedehtn · gedenht
  • gelehnteglehnt · geelhnt · gelehhnt · gelehnnt · gelehntt · gelehtn · gelenht · gelhent

Frequency comparison

gedehnt#49,699
gelehnt#47,430

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "gedehnt" and "gelehnt" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "gedehnt" is an adjective and "gelehnt" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "gedehnt" or "gelehnt"?
"gelehnt" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #47,430 in our German list, against #49,699 for "gedehnt". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering gedehnt vs gelehnt

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “gedehnt”; for a verb, it's “gelehnt”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “gedehnt” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list