gefälschtevsgefälschtenWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#16,712
“gefälschte” frequency rank
#20,591
“gefälschten” frequency rank
37303
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature gefälschte gefälschten
Definition Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs gefälscht Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs gefälscht

Where the eye mixes gefälschte and gefälschten

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 10 letters in sequence. gefälschte runs 10 letters (CVCVCCCCCV) against gefälschten's 11 (CVCVCCCCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

10 ch
gefälschte
11 ch
gefälschten

Visual trap between gefälschte and gefälschten

A purely visual mix-up. gefälschte ([ɡəˈfɛlʃtə]) and gefälschten ([ɡəˈfɛlʃtn̩]) 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) - “gefälschte” sits inside “gefälschten”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 37303, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

gefälschte is recorded at frequency rank #16,712, classified as anadj, pronounced [ɡəˈfɛlʃtə]. gefälschten is at rank #20,591, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ɡəˈfɛlʃtn̩].

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 37303, this pair ranks #1,593,698 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of gefälschte vs gefälschten

Shared letters: cefghlstä. Private to "gefälschte": -. Private to "gefälschten": n.

"gefälschte" · 10 letters · shape CVCVCCCCCV  ·  "gefälschten" · 11 letters · shape CVCVCCCCCVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "gefälschte" for "gefälschten" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ɡəˈfɛlʃtə] versus [ɡəˈfɛlʃtn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "gefälschte" or "gefälschten" show up more?
"gefälschte" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #16,712 in our German list, against #20,591 for "gefälschten". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "gefälschte" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "gefälschten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,593,698 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "gefälschte" and "gefälschten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "gefälscht vs gefälschten". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #1,593,698 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