GefährtevsGefährtenWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#36,349
“Gefährte” frequency rank
#17,585
“Gefährten” frequency rank
53934
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Gefährte Gefährten
Definition 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 Genitiv Singular des Substantivs Gefährte

Where the eye mixes Gefährte and Gefährten

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. Gefährte runs 8 letters (CVCVCCCV) against Gefährten's 9 (CVCVCCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

8 ch
Gefährte
9 ch
Gefährten

Why the eye confuses Gefährte with Gefährten

A purely visual mix-up. Gefährte ([ɡəˈfɛːɐ̯tə]) and Gefährten ([ɡəˈfɛːɐ̯tn̩]) 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 1 extra letter(s) - “Gefährte” sits inside “Gefährten”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 53934, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Gefährte is recorded at frequency rank #36,349, classified as anoun, pronounced [ɡəˈfɛːɐ̯tə]. 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 53934, this pair ranks #1,038,552 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Gefährte vs Gefährten

Shared letters: efghrtä. Private to "Gefährte": -. Private to "Gefährten": n.

"Gefährte" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCCV  ·  "Gefährten" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCCCVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Gefährte" and "Gefährten" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ɡəˈfɛːɐ̯tə] versus [ɡəˈfɛːɐ̯tn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "Gefährte" or "Gefährten" show up more?
"Gefährten" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #17,585 in our German list, against #36,349 for "Gefährte". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Gefährte" 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 #1,038,552 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Gefährte" and "Gefährten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Gefährte vs genährt". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #1,038,552 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