GefildevsGemäldeTell them apart

Which to use

“Gefilde” and “Gemälde” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#43,201
“Gefilde” frequency rank
#5,085
“Gemälde” frequency rank
48286
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Gefilde Gemälde
Definition Landschaft, Gegend ein auf einen Träger (etwa eine Leinwand) aufgebrachtes Bild

Where the eye mixes Gefilde and Gemälde

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.

7 ch
Gefilde
7 ch
Gemälde

Visual trap between Gefilde and Gemälde

A purely visual mix-up. Gefilde ([ɡəˈfɪldə]) and Gemälde ([ɡəˈmɛːldə]) 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 48286, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Gefilde is recorded at frequency rank #43,201, classified as anoun, pronounced [ɡəˈfɪldə]. Gemälde is at rank #5,085, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ɡəˈmɛːldə].

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 48286, this pair ranks #1,254,143 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Gefilde vs Gemälde

Shared letters: degl. Private to "Gefilde": fi. Private to "Gemälde": .

"Gefilde" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCV  ·  "Gemälde" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Gefildeegfilde · geffilde · gefidle · gefildde · gefiled · gefillde · geflide · geiflde

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Gefilde" for "Gemälde" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ɡəˈfɪldə] versus [ɡəˈmɛːldə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "Gefilde" or "Gemälde" show up more?
"Gemälde" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,085 in our German list, against #43,201 for "Gefilde". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Gefilde" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Gemälde" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,254,143 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Gefilde" and "Gemälde" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Gefilde 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 #1,254,143 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list