Which to use
“gefallen” and “gefällig” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #904
- “gefallen” frequency rank
- #18,557
- “gefällig” frequency rank
- 19461
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | gefallen | gefällig |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | im Krieg durch Feindeinwirkung gestorben | jemandem einen Dienst (Gefallen) erweisend |
Where the eye mixes gefallen and gefällig
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. gefallen and gefällig follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Visual trap between gefallen and gefällig
A purely visual mix-up. gefallen ([ɡəˈfalən]) and gefällig ([ɡəˈfɛlɪç]) 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 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 19461, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
gefallen is recorded at frequency rank #904, classified as anadj, pronounced [ɡəˈfalən]. gefällig is at rank #18,557, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ɡəˈfɛlɪç].
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 19461, this pair ranks #1,908,097 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of gefallen vs gefällig
Shared letters: efgl. Private to "gefallen": an. Private to "gefällig": iä.
"gefallen" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC · "gefällig" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- gefallen ← egfallen · geafllen · gefaleln · gefalen · gefallenn · gefallne · geffallen · geflalen
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "gefallen" for "gefällig" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "gefallen" or "gefällig" show up more?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "gefallen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "gefällig" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,908,097 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "gefallen" and "gefällig" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "gefällig vs gesellig". 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 #1,908,097 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.