Which to use
“gefallenen” and “gehaltenen” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #14,076
- “gefallenen” frequency rank
- #16,159
- “gehaltenen” frequency rank
- 30235
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | gefallenen | gehaltenen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs gefallen | Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs gehalten |
Where the eye mixes gefallenen and gehaltenen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. gefallenen and gehaltenen follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVCCVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses gefallenen with gehaltenen
A purely visual mix-up. gefallenen ([ɡəˈfalənən]) and gehaltenen ([ɡəˈhaltənən]) 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 30235, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
gefallenen is recorded at frequency rank #14,076, classified as anadj, pronounced [ɡəˈfalənən]. gehaltenen is at rank #16,159, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ɡəˈhaltənən].
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 30235, this pair ranks #1,751,821 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of gefallenen vs gehaltenen
Shared letters: aegln. Private to "gefallenen": f. Private to "gehaltenen": ht.
"gefallenen" · 10 letters · shape CVCVCCVCVC · "gehaltenen" · 10 letters · shape CVCVCCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- gefallenen ← egfallenen · geafllenen · gefalelnen · gefalenen · gefalleenn · gefallenenn · gefallenne · gefallennen
- gehaltenen ← eghaltenen · geahltenen · gehaletnen · gehalltenen · gehalteenn · gehaltenenn · gehaltenne · gehaltennen
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "gefallenen" and "gehaltenen" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "gefallenen" or "gehaltenen" show up more?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "gefallenen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "gehaltenen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,751,821 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "gefallenen" and "gehaltenen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "gefahrenen vs gefallenen". 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 #1,751,821 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.