GehilfevsGehilfenTell them apart

Which to use

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

#44,637
“Gehilfe” frequency rank
#39,959
“Gehilfen” frequency rank
84596
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Gehilfe Gehilfen
Definition Person, die „eine Gehilfenprüfung bestanden hat“ Genitiv Singular des Substantivs Gehilfe

Where the eye mixes Gehilfe and Gehilfen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. Gehilfe runs 7 letters (CVCVCCV) against Gehilfen's 8 (CVCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

7 ch
Gehilfe
8 ch
Gehilfen

Visual trap between Gehilfe and Gehilfen

A purely visual mix-up. Gehilfe ([ɡəˈhɪlfə]) and Gehilfen ([ɡəˈhɪlfn̩]) 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 extra letter(s) - “Gehilfe” sits inside “Gehilfen”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 84596, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Gehilfe is recorded at frequency rank #44,637, classified as anoun, pronounced [ɡəˈhɪlfə]. Gehilfen is at rank #39,959, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ɡəˈhɪlfn̩].

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 84596, this pair ranks #121,256 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of Gehilfe vs Gehilfen

Shared letters: efghil. Private to "Gehilfe": -. Private to "Gehilfen": n.

"Gehilfe" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCV  ·  "Gehilfen" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Gehilfeeghilfe · gehhilfe · gehifle · gehilef · gehilffe · gehillfe · gehlife · geihlfe
  • Gehilfeneghilfen · gehhilfen · gehiflen · gehilefn · gehilfenn · gehilffen · gehilfne · gehillfen

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Gehilfe" and "Gehilfen" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ɡəˈhɪlfə] versus [ɡəˈhɪlfn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "Gehilfe" or "Gehilfen" show up more?
"Gehilfen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #39,959 in our German list, against #44,637 for "Gehilfe". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Gehilfe" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Gehilfen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #121,256 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Gehilfe" and "Gehilfen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Gehilfe vs Gehölze". 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 #121,256 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