gehaltenevsgespalteneWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#20,594
“gehaltene” frequency rank
#47,447
“gespaltene” frequency rank
68041
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature gehaltene gespaltene
Definition Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs gehalten Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs gespalten

Where the eye mixes gehaltene and gespaltene

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. gehaltene runs 9 letters (CVCVCCVCV) against gespaltene's 10 (CVCCVCCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

9 ch
gehaltene
10 ch
gespaltene

Visual trap between gehaltene and gespaltene

A purely visual mix-up. gehaltene ([ɡəˈhaltənə]) and gespaltene ([ɡəˈʃpaltənə]) 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 68041, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

gehaltene is recorded at frequency rank #20,594, classified as anadj, pronounced [ɡəˈhaltənə]. gespaltene is at rank #47,447, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ɡəˈʃpaltənə].

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 68041, this pair ranks #520,594 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of gehaltene vs gespaltene

Shared letters: aeglnt. Private to "gehaltene": h. Private to "gespaltene": ps.

"gehaltene" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCCVCV  ·  "gespaltene" · 10 letters · shape CVCCVCCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • gehalteneeghaltene · geahltene · gehaletne · gehalltene · gehalteen · gehaltnee · gehalttene · gehatlene
  • gespalteneegspaltene · gepsaltene · gesapltene · gespaletne · gespalltene · gespalteen · gespaltenne · gespaltnee

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "gehaltene" for "gespaltene" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ɡəˈhaltənə] versus [ɡəˈʃpaltənə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "gehaltene" vs "gespaltene" - which ranks higher?
"gehaltene" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #20,594 in our German list, against #47,447 for "gespaltene". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "gehaltene" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "gespaltene" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #520,594 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "gehaltene" and "gespaltene" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "gehaltene vs Gehältern". 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 #520,594 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