GeduldvsgeduldenTell them apart

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

Which to use

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

#4,348
“Geduld” frequency rank
#31,057
“gedulden” frequency rank
35405
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Geduld gedulden
Definition Fähigkeit, auf etwas länger zu warten warten, bis etwas an der Zeit ist, Geduld zeigen

Where the eye mixes Geduld and gedulden

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. Geduld runs 6 letters (CVCVCC) against gedulden's 8 (CVCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
Geduld
8 ch
gedulden

Visual trap between Geduld and gedulden

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Geduld is [ɡəˈdʊlt] while gedulden is [ɡəˈdʊldn̩]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “Geduld” sits inside “gedulden”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 35405, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Geduld is recorded at frequency rank #4,348, classified as anoun, pronounced [ɡəˈdʊlt]. gedulden is at rank #31,057, tagged as averb, pronounced [ɡəˈdʊldn̩].

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 35405, this pair ranks #1,640,807 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Geduld vs gedulden

Shared letters: deglu. Private to "Geduld": -. Private to "gedulden": n.

"Geduld" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC  ·  "gedulden" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Geduldegduld · gdeuld · gedduld · gedlud · gedudl · geduldd · gedulld · geudld
  • geduldenegdulden · gdeulden · geddulden · gedluden · gedudlen · geduldden · geduldenn · geduldne

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Geduld" and "gedulden" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Geduld" is a noun and "gedulden" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "Geduld" or "gedulden" show up more?
"Geduld" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,348 in our German list, against #31,057 for "gedulden". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Geduld" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "gedulden" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,640,807 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Geduld" and "gedulden" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "gedulden vs Gefilden". 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 #1,640,807 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