gefährdetvsgefährdeteWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: gefährdet is a verb, gefährdete is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

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

#4,349
“gefährdet” frequency rank
#27,738
“gefährdete” frequency rank
32087
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature gefährdet gefährdete
Definition Partizip Perfekt des Verbs gefährden Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs gefährdet

Where the eye mixes gefährdet and gefährdete

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence. gefährdet runs 9 letters (CVCVCCCVC) against gefährdete's 10 (CVCVCCCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

9 ch
gefährdet
10 ch
gefährdete

Visual trap between gefährdet and gefährdete

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: gefährdet is [ɡəˈfɛːɐ̯dət] while gefährdete is [ɡəˈfɛːɐ̯dətə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “gefährdet” sits inside “gefährdete”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 32087, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

gefährdet is recorded at frequency rank #4,349, classified as averb, pronounced [ɡəˈfɛːɐ̯dət]. gefährdete is at rank #27,738, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ɡəˈfɛːɐ̯dətə].

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 32087, this pair ranks #1,714,970 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of gefährdet vs gefährdete

Shared letters: defghrtä. Private to "gefährdet": -. Private to "gefährdete": -.

"gefährdet" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCCCVC  ·  "gefährdete" · 10 letters · shape CVCVCCCVCV

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "gefährdet" and "gefährdete" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "gefährdet" is a verb and "gefährdete" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "gefährdet" vs "gefährdete" - which ranks higher?
"gefährdet" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,349 in our German list, against #27,738 for "gefährdete". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "gefährdet" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "gefährdete" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,714,970 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "gefährdet" and "gefährdete" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "gefährdete vs Gefährte". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #1,714,970 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