gefallenvsgefalleneTell them apart

Which to use

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

#904
“gefallen” frequency rank
#29,590
“gefallene” frequency rank
30494
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature gefallen gefallene
Definition im Krieg durch Feindeinwirkung gestorben Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs gefallen

Where the eye mixes gefallen and gefallene

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

8 ch
gefallen
9 ch
gefallene

Visual trap between gefallen and gefallene

A purely visual mix-up. gefallen ([ɡəˈfalən]) and gefallene ([ɡəˈfalənə]) 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) - “gefallen” sits inside “gefallene”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 30494, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

gefallen is recorded at frequency rank #904, classified as anadj, pronounced [ɡəˈfalən]. gefallene is at rank #29,590, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ɡəˈfalənə].

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 30494, this pair ranks #1,746,735 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of gefallen vs gefallene

Shared letters: aefgln. Private to "gefallen": -. Private to "gefallene": -.

"gefallen" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC  ·  "gefallene" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • gefallen ← egfallen · geafllen · gefaleln · gefalen · gefallenn · gefallne · geffallen · geflalen
  • gefallene ← egfallene · geafllene · gefalelne · gefalene · gefalleen · gefallnee · geffallene · geflalene

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "gefallen" and "gefallene" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ɡəˈfalən] versus [ɡəˈfalənə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "gefallen" vs "gefallene" - which ranks higher?
"gefallen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #904 in our German list, against #29,590 for "gefallene". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Useful next steps

Eye-level mix-up between "gefallen" and "gefallene" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "gefallen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "gefallene" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,746,735 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "gefallen" and "gefallene" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "geballten vs gefallen". 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 #1,746,735 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