Which to use
“gefehlt” and “gelehnt” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #7,180
- “gefehlt” frequency rank
- #47,430
- “gelehnt” frequency rank
- 54610
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | gefehlt | gelehnt |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Partizip Perfekt des Verbs fehlen | Partizip Perfekt des Verbs lehnen |
Where the eye mixes gefehlt and gelehnt
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. gefehlt and gelehnt follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVCCC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses gefehlt with gelehnt
A purely visual mix-up. gefehlt ([ɡəˈfeːlt]) and gelehnt ([ɡəˈleːnt]) 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 54610, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
gefehlt is recorded at frequency rank #7,180, classified as averb, pronounced [ɡəˈfeːlt]. gelehnt is at rank #47,430, tagged as averb, pronounced [ɡəˈleːnt].
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 54610, this pair ranks #1,012,146 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of gefehlt vs gelehnt
Shared letters: eghlt. Private to "gefehlt": f. Private to "gelehnt": n.
"gefehlt" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCC · "gelehnt" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "gefehlt" for "gelehnt" ever safe?
Frequency check: "gefehlt" vs "gelehnt" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "gefehlt" and "gelehnt" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "gefehlt" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "gelehnt" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,012,146 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "gefehlt" and "gelehnt" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "geleakt vs gelehnt". 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 #1,012,146 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.