GefährtenvsGefährtinWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#17,585
“Gefährten” frequency rank
#39,373
“Gefährtin” frequency rank
56958
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Gefährten Gefährtin
Definition Genitiv Singular des Substantivs Gefährte weibliche Person, die einer anderen Person durch Zuneigung oder Schicksal verbunden ist

Where the eye mixes Gefährten and Gefährtin

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. Gefährten and Gefährtin follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVCCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

9 ch
Gefährten
9 ch
Gefährtin

Why the eye confuses Gefährten with Gefährtin

A purely visual mix-up. Gefährten ([ɡəˈfɛːɐ̯tn̩]) and Gefährtin ([ɡəˈfɛːɐ̯tɪn]) 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 a single letter - e in “Gefährten” becomes i in “Gefährtin”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 56958, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Gefährten is recorded at frequency rank #17,585, classified as anoun, pronounced [ɡəˈfɛːɐ̯tn̩]. Gefährtin is at rank #39,373, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ɡəˈfɛːɐ̯tɪn].

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 56958, this pair ranks #920,098 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Gefährten vs Gefährtin

Shared letters: efghnrtä. Private to "Gefährten": -. Private to "Gefährtin": i.

"Gefährten" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCCCVC  ·  "Gefährtin" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCCCVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Gefährten" and "Gefährtin" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ɡəˈfɛːɐ̯tn̩] versus [ɡəˈfɛːɐ̯tɪn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "Gefährten" vs "Gefährtin" - which ranks higher?
"Gefährten" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #17,585 in our German list, against #39,373 for "Gefährtin". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Gefährten" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Gefährtin" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #920,098 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Gefährten" and "Gefährtin" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Gefährte vs Gefährtin". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #920,098 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