gefärbtevsgefärbtenWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#29,138
“gefärbte” frequency rank
#30,568
“gefärbten” frequency rank
59706
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature gefärbte gefärbten
Definition Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs gefärbt Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs gefärbt

Where the eye mixes gefärbte and gefärbten

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

8 ch
gefärbte
9 ch
gefärbten

Look-alike desk: gefärbte vs gefärbten

A purely visual mix-up. gefärbte ([ɡəˈfɛʁptə]) and gefärbten ([ɡəˈfɛʁptn̩]) 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) - “gefärbte” sits inside “gefärbten”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 59706, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

gefärbte is recorded at frequency rank #29,138, classified as anadj, pronounced [ɡəˈfɛʁptə]. gefärbten is at rank #30,568, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ɡəˈfɛʁptn̩].

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 59706, this pair ranks #814,465 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of gefärbte vs gefärbten

Shared letters: befgrtä. Private to "gefärbte": -. Private to "gefärbten": n.

"gefärbte" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCCV  ·  "gefärbten" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCCCVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "gefärbte" and "gefärbten" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ɡəˈfɛʁptə] versus [ɡəˈfɛʁptn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "gefärbte" or "gefärbten" show up more?
"gefärbte" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #29,138 in our German list, against #30,568 for "gefärbten". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "gefärbte" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "gefärbten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #814,465 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "gefärbte" and "gefärbten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "gefärbten vs geparkten". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #814,465 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