Which to use
“gefiel” is a verb and “Geisel” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #9,553
- “gefiel” frequency rank
- #11,058
- “Geisel” frequency rank
- 20611
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | gefiel | Geisel |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs gefallen | Person, die von Verbrechern zum Schutz (z. B. vor der Polizei) oder zur Forderung eines Lösegeldes festgehalten wird |
Where the eye mixes gefiel and Geisel
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between gefiel and Geisel
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: gefiel is [ɡəˈfiːl] while Geisel is [ˈɡaɪ̯zl̩]. 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 noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 20611, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
gefiel is recorded at frequency rank #9,553, classified as averb, pronounced [ɡəˈfiːl]. Geisel is at rank #11,058, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈɡaɪ̯zl̩].
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 20611, this pair ranks #1,895,750 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of gefiel vs Geisel
Shared letters: egil. Private to "gefiel": f. Private to "Geisel": s.
"gefiel" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC · "Geisel" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "gefiel" for "Geisel" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "gefiel" or "Geisel" show up more?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "gefiel" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "Geisel" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,895,750 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "gefiel" and "Geisel" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Geisel vs gesell". 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 #1,895,750 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.