Which to use
“gefielen” is a verb and “gezielten” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #39,956
- “gefielen” frequency rank
- #17,920
- “gezielten” frequency rank
- 57876
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | gefielen | gezielten |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 1. Person Plural Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs gefallen | Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs gezielt |
Where the eye mixes gefielen and gezielten
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. gefielen runs 8 letters (CVCVVCVC) against gezielten's 9 (CVCVVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between gefielen and gezielten
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: gefielen is [ɡəˈfiːlən] while gezielten is [ɡəˈt͡siːltn̩]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 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 57876, 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]. gezielten is at rank #17,920, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ɡəˈt͡siːltn̩].
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 57876, this pair ranks #884,342 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of gefielen vs gezielten
Shared letters: egiln. Private to "gefielen": f. Private to "gezielten": tz.
"gefielen" · 8 letters · shape CVCVVCVC · "gezielten" · 9 letters · shape CVCVVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "gefielen" and "gezielten" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary German text, does "gefielen" or "gezielten" show up more?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "gefielen" and "gezielten" 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 "gezielten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #884,342 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "gefielen" and "gezielten" 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 #884,342 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.