GefällevsGefildeWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#19,228
“Gefälle” frequency rank
#43,201
“Gefilde” frequency rank
62429
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Gefälle Gefilde
Definition der Grad der Neigung einer Straße oder eines Geländes Landschaft, Gegend

Where the eye mixes Gefälle and Gefilde

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. Gefälle and Gefilde follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVCCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

7 ch
Gefälle
7 ch
Gefilde

Look-alike desk: Gefälle vs Gefilde

A purely visual mix-up. Gefälle ([ɡəˈfɛlə]) and Gefilde ([ɡəˈfɪldə]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 62429, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Gefälle is recorded at frequency rank #19,228, classified as anoun, pronounced [ɡəˈfɛlə]. Gefilde is at rank #43,201, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ɡəˈfɪldə].

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 62429, this pair ranks #713,214 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Gefälle vs Gefilde

Shared letters: efgl. Private to "Gefälle": ä. Private to "Gefilde": di.

"Gefälle" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCV  ·  "Gefilde" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Gefilde ← egfilde · geffilde · gefidle · gefildde · gefiled · gefillde · geflide · geiflde

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Gefälle" for "Gefilde" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ɡəˈfɛlə] versus [ɡəˈfɪldə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Gefälle" or "Gefilde"?
"Gefälle" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #19,228 in our German list, against #43,201 for "Gefilde". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Gefälle" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Gefilde" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #713,214 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Gefälle" and "Gefilde" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Gefilde vs Gefilden". 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 #713,214 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