Which to use
“gefielen” and “geliehen” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #39,956
- “gefielen” frequency rank
- #22,736
- “geliehen” frequency rank
- 62692
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | gefielen | geliehen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 1. Person Plural Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs gefallen | Partizip Perfekt des Verbs leihen |
Where the eye mixes gefielen and geliehen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. gefielen and geliehen follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Look-alike desk: gefielen vs geliehen
A purely visual mix-up. gefielen ([ɡəˈfiːlən]) and geliehen ([ɡəˈliːən]) 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 62692, 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]. geliehen is at rank #22,736, tagged as averb, pronounced [ɡəˈliːən].
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 62692, this pair ranks #703,560 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of gefielen vs geliehen
Shared letters: egiln. Private to "gefielen": f. Private to "geliehen": h.
"gefielen" · 8 letters · shape CVCVVCVC · "geliehen" · 8 letters · shape CVCVVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "gefielen" and "geliehen" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "gefielen" or "geliehen" show up more?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "gefielen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "geliehen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #703,560 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "gefielen" and "geliehen" 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 #703,560 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.