gefaltetvsgemaltenWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: gefaltet is a verb, gemalten is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“gefaltet” is a verb and “gemalten” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#31,565
“gefaltet” frequency rank
#37,535
“gemalten” frequency rank
69100
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature gefaltet gemalten
Definition Partizip Perfekt des Verbs falten Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs gemalt

Where the eye mixes gefaltet and gemalten

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. gefaltet and gemalten follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

8 ch
gefaltet
8 ch
gemalten

Why the eye confuses gefaltet with gemalten

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: gefaltet is [ɡəˈfaltət] while gemalten is [ɡəˈmaːltn̩]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 69100, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

gefaltet is recorded at frequency rank #31,565, classified as averb, pronounced [ɡəˈfaltət]. gemalten is at rank #37,535, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ɡəˈmaːltn̩].

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 69100, this pair ranks #487,048 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of gefaltet vs gemalten

Shared letters: aeglt. Private to "gefaltet": f. Private to "gemalten": mn.

"gefaltet" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC  ·  "gemalten" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • gefaltetegfaltet · geafltet · gefalett · gefalltet · gefaltett · gefaltte · gefalttet · gefatlet
  • gemaltenegmalten · geamlten · gemaletn · gemallten · gemaltenn · gemaltne · gemaltten · gematlen

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "gefaltet" and "gemalten" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "gefaltet" is a verb and "gemalten" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "gefaltet" vs "gemalten" - which ranks higher?
"gefaltet" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #31,565 in our German list, against #37,535 for "gemalten". 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 "gefaltet" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "gemalten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #487,048 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "gefaltet" and "gemalten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "geballten vs gemalten". 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 #487,048 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