gehaltenvsGemäldenWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: gehalten is a adjective, Gemälden is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“gehalten” is an adjective and “Gemälden” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#1,419
“gehalten” frequency rank
#23,149
“Gemälden” frequency rank
24568
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature gehalten Gemälden
Definition maßvoll, beherrscht Dativ Plural des Substantivs Gemälde

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set gehalten and Gemälden apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

8 ch
gehalten
8 ch
Gemälden

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: gehalten is [ɡəˈhaltn̩] while Gemälden is [ɡəˈmɛːldn̩]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 24568, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

gehalten is recorded at frequency rank #1,419, classified as anadj, pronounced [ɡəˈhaltn̩]. Gemälden is at rank #23,149, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ɡəˈmɛːldn̩].

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 24568, this pair ranks #1,845,771 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of gehalten vs Gemälden

Shared letters: egln. Private to "gehalten": aht. Private to "Gemälden": dmä.

"gehalten" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC  ·  "Gemälden" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • gehalteneghalten · geahlten · gehaletn · gehallten · gehaltenn · gehaltne · gehaltten · gehatlen

Frequency comparison

gehalten#1,419
Gemälden#23,149

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "gehalten" and "Gemälden" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "gehalten" is an adjective and "Gemälden" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "gehalten" or "Gemälden"?
"gehalten" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,419 in our German list, against #23,149 for "Gemälden". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering gehalten vs Gemälden

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “gehalten”; for a noun, it's “Gemälden”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “gehalten” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list