gefährdetenvsGefährtenTell them apart

Quick tell: gefährdeten is a adjective, Gefährten is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“gefährdeten” is an adjective and “Gefährten” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#21,981
“gefährdeten” frequency rank
#17,585
“Gefährten” frequency rank
39566
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature gefährdeten Gefährten
Definition Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs gefährdet Genitiv Singular des Substantivs Gefährte

Where the eye mixes gefährdeten and Gefährten

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence. gefährdeten runs 11 letters (CVCVCCCVCVC) against Gefährten's 9 (CVCVCCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

11 ch
gefährdeten
9 ch
Gefährten

Visual trap between gefährdeten and Gefährten

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: gefährdeten is [ɡəˈfɛːɐ̯dətn̩] while Gefährten is [ɡəˈfɛːɐ̯tn̩]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 39566, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

gefährdeten is recorded at frequency rank #21,981, classified as anadj, pronounced [ɡəˈfɛːɐ̯dətn̩]. Gefährten is at rank #17,585, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ɡəˈfɛːɐ̯tn̩].

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 39566, this pair ranks #1,533,230 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of gefährdeten vs Gefährten

Shared letters: efghnrtä. Private to "gefährdeten": d. Private to "Gefährten": -.

"gefährdeten" · 11 letters · shape CVCVCCCVCVC  ·  "Gefährten" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCCCVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "gefährdeten" for "Gefährten" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "gefährdeten" is an adjective and "Gefährten" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "gefährdeten" or "Gefährten"?
"Gefährten" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #17,585 in our German list, against #21,981 for "gefährdeten". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "gefährdeten" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Gefährten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,533,230 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "gefährdeten" and "Gefährten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "gefährdeten vs gefahrenen". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #1,533,230 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