gehendenvsgeltendenTell them apart

Which to use

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

#30,077
“gehenden” frequency rank
#7,766
“geltenden” frequency rank
37843
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature gehenden geltenden
Definition Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs gehend Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs geltend

Where the eye mixes gehenden and geltenden

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence.

8 ch
gehenden
9 ch
geltenden

Visual trap between gehenden and geltenden

A purely visual mix-up. gehenden ([ˈɡeːəndn̩]) and geltenden ([ˈɡɛltn̩dən]) 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 37843, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

gehenden is recorded at frequency rank #30,077, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈɡeːəndn̩]. geltenden is at rank #7,766, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈɡɛltn̩dən].

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 37843, this pair ranks #1,579,640 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of gehenden vs geltenden

Shared letters: degn. Private to "gehenden": h. Private to "geltenden": lt.

"gehenden" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC  ·  "geltenden" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • gehendeneghenden · geehnden · gehednen · gehendden · gehendenn · gehendne · gehenedn · gehennden
  • geltendenegltenden · geletnden · gelltenden · geltednen · geltendden · geltendenn · geltendne · geltenedn

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "gehenden" and "geltenden" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈɡeːəndn̩] versus [ˈɡɛltn̩dən]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "gehenden" vs "geltenden" - which ranks higher?
"geltenden" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,766 in our German list, against #30,077 for "gehenden". 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 "gehenden" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "geltenden" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,579,640 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "gehenden" and "geltenden" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "gehenden vs Gemünden". 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 #1,579,640 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