gegoltenvsgeltenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#38,762
“gegolten” frequency rank
#1,353
“gelten” frequency rank
40115
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature gegolten gelten
Definition Partizip Perfekt des Verbs gelten gültig, verbindlich sein

Where the eye mixes gegolten and gelten

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. gegolten runs 8 letters (CVCVCCVC) against gelten's 6 (CVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

8 ch
gegolten
6 ch
gelten

Look-alike desk: gegolten vs gelten

A purely visual mix-up. gegolten ([ɡəˈɡɔltn̩]) and gelten ([ˈɡɛltn̩]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 40115, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

gegolten is recorded at frequency rank #38,762, classified as averb, pronounced [ɡəˈɡɔltn̩]. gelten is at rank #1,353, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈɡɛltn̩].

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 40115, this pair ranks #1,517,657 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of gegolten vs gelten

Shared letters: eglnt. Private to "gegolten": o. Private to "gelten": -.

"gegolten" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC  ·  "gelten" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • gegolten ← eggolten · geggolten · gegloten · gegoletn · gegollten · gegoltenn · gegoltne · gegoltten
  • gelten ← eglten · geletn · gellten · geltenn · geltne · geltten · getlen · ggelten

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "gegolten" and "gelten" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ɡəˈɡɔltn̩] versus [ˈɡɛltn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "gegolten" or "gelten" show up more?
"gelten" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,353 in our German list, against #38,762 for "gegolten". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "gegolten" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "gelten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,517,657 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "gegolten" and "gelten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "gegolten vs gelobten". 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 #1,517,657 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