geh vs gehts, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“geh” is a verb and “gehts” is an abbrev - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#1,035
“geh” frequency rank: #3,190
“gehts” frequency rank: 4225
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	geh	gehts
Definition	2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs gehen	geht es

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set geh and gehts apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

3 ch

geh

5 ch

gehts

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: geh is [ɡeː] while gehts is [ɡeːt͡s]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “geh” sits inside “gehts”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs abbrev), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 4225, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

geh is recorded at frequency rank #1,035, classified as averb, pronounced [ɡeː]. gehts is at rank #3,190, tagged as anabbrev, pronounced [ɡeːt͡s].

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 4225, this pair ranks #1,998,245 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of geh vs gehts

Shared letters: egh. Private to "geh": -. Private to "gehts": st.

"geh" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "gehts" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

gehts ← eghts · gehhts · gehtss · gehtts · geths · ggehts · ghets

Frequency comparison

geh#1,035

gehts#3,190

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "geh" and "gehts" be used interchangeably?

No - they are not even the same part of speech. "geh" is a verb and "gehts" an abbrev, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.

Which is more common, "geh" or "gehts"?

"geh" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,035 in our German list, against #3,190 for "gehts". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering geh vs gehts

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “geh”; for an abbrev, it's “gehts”.
See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “geh” entry
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