GefahrvsGefährteConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#990
“Gefahr” frequency rank
#36,349
“Gefährte” frequency rank
37339
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Gefahr Gefährte
Definition die Möglichkeit, dass Schaden oder eine Verletzung entsteht Person, die einer anderen Person durch Zuneigung oder Schicksal verbunden ist und mit der man viel Zeit verbringt, zum Beispiel auch, indem man gemeinsam etwas unternimmt

Where the eye mixes Gefahr and Gefährte

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. Gefahr runs 6 letters (CVCVCC) against Gefährte's 8 (CVCVCCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
Gefahr
8 ch
Gefährte

Why the eye confuses Gefahr with Gefährte

A purely visual mix-up. Gefahr ([ɡəˈfaːɐ̯]) and Gefährte ([ɡəˈfɛːɐ̯tə]) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 37339, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Gefahr is recorded at frequency rank #990, classified as anoun, pronounced [ɡəˈfaːɐ̯]. Gefährte is at rank #36,349, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ɡəˈfɛːɐ̯tə].

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 37339, this pair ranks #1,592,809 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Gefahr vs Gefährte

Shared letters: efghr. Private to "Gefahr": a. Private to "Gefährte": tä.

"Gefahr" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC  ·  "Gefährte" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Gefahr ← egfahr · geafhr · gefahhr · gefahrr · gefarh · geffahr · gefhar · gfeahr

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Gefahr" and "Gefährte" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ɡəˈfaːɐ̯] versus [ɡəˈfɛːɐ̯tə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "Gefahr" vs "Gefährte" - which ranks higher?
"Gefahr" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #990 in our German list, against #36,349 for "Gefährte". 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 "Gefahr" and "Gefährte" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Gefahr" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Gefährte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,592,809 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Gefahr" and "Gefährte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Gefährte vs genährt". 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 #1,592,809 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