Which to use
“gefielen” is a verb and “geilen” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #39,956
- “gefielen” frequency rank
- #8,210
- “geilen” frequency rank
- 48166
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | gefielen | geilen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 1. Person Plural Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs gefallen | Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Flexion des Adjektivs geil |
Where the eye mixes gefielen and geilen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. gefielen runs 8 letters (CVCVVCVC) against geilen's 6 (CVVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses gefielen with geilen
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: gefielen is [ɡəˈfiːlən] while geilen is [ˈɡaɪ̯lən]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 48166, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
gefielen is recorded at frequency rank #39,956, classified as averb, pronounced [ɡəˈfiːlən]. geilen is at rank #8,210, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈɡaɪ̯lən].
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 48166, this pair ranks #1,258,419 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of gefielen vs geilen
Shared letters: egiln. Private to "gefielen": f. Private to "geilen": -.
"gefielen" · 8 letters · shape CVCVVCVC · "geilen" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "gefielen" and "geilen" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "gefielen" or "geilen"?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "gefielen" and "geilen" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "gefielen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "geilen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,258,419 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "gefielen" and "geilen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "gefielen vs Gefilden". 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 #1,258,419 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.