Which to use
“gehalten” and “gemalte” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #1,419
- “gehalten” frequency rank
- #40,556
- “gemalte” frequency rank
- 41975
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | gehalten | gemalte |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | maßvoll, beherrscht | Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs gemalt |
Where the eye mixes gehalten and gemalte
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. gehalten runs 8 letters (CVCVCCVC) against gemalte's 7 (CVCVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses gehalten with gemalte
A purely visual mix-up. gehalten ([ɡəˈhaltn̩]) and gemalte ([ɡəˈmaːltə]) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 41975, 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]. gemalte is at rank #40,556, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ɡəˈmaːltə].
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 41975, this pair ranks #1,463,403 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of gehalten vs gemalte
Shared letters: aeglt. Private to "gehalten": hn. Private to "gemalte": m.
"gehalten" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC · "gemalte" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "gehalten" and "gemalte" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "gehalten" or "gemalte"?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "gehalten" and "gemalte" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "gehalten" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "gemalte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,463,403 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "gehalten" and "gemalte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "gemalte vs gestalte". 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 #1,463,403 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.