gehörigvsgehörteWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#14,810
“gehörig” frequency rank
#2,826
“gehörte” frequency rank
17636
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature gehörig gehörte
Definition zu jemandem oder etwas gehörend Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs gehört

Where the eye mixes gehörig and gehörte

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. gehörig (CVCVCVC) and gehörte (CVCVCCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

7 ch
gehörig
7 ch
gehörte

Look-alike desk: gehörig vs gehörte

A purely visual mix-up. gehörig ([ɡəˈhøːʁɪç]) and gehörte ([ɡəˈhøːɐ̯tə]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 17636, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

gehörig is recorded at frequency rank #14,810, classified as anadj, pronounced [ɡəˈhøːʁɪç]. gehörte is at rank #2,826, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ɡəˈhøːɐ̯tə].

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 17636, this pair ranks #1,925,632 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of gehörig vs gehörte

Shared letters: eghrö. Private to "gehörig": i. Private to "gehörte": t.

"gehörig" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC  ·  "gehörte" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCV

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "gehörig" and "gehörte" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ɡəˈhøːʁɪç] versus [ɡəˈhøːɐ̯tə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "gehörig" or "gehörte"?
"gehörte" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,826 in our German list, against #14,810 for "gehörig". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "gehörig" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "gehörte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,925,632 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "gehörig" and "gehörte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "gehörte vs geortet". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #1,925,632 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