gekehrtvsgewehrtWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#21,267
“gekehrt” frequency rank
#20,604
“gewehrt” frequency rank
41871
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature gekehrt gewehrt
Definition Partizip Perfekt des Verbs kehren Partizip Perfekt des Verbs wehren

Where the eye mixes gekehrt and gewehrt

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. gekehrt and gewehrt follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVCCC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

7 ch
gekehrt
7 ch
gewehrt

Visual trap between gekehrt and gewehrt

A purely visual mix-up. gekehrt ([ɡəˈkeːɐ̯t]) and gewehrt ([ɡəˈveːɐ̯t]) 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 a single letter - k in “gekehrt” becomes w in “gewehrt”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 41871, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

gekehrt is recorded at frequency rank #21,267, classified as averb, pronounced [ɡəˈkeːɐ̯t]. gewehrt is at rank #20,604, tagged as averb, pronounced [ɡəˈveːɐ̯t].

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 41871, this pair ranks #1,466,567 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of gekehrt vs gewehrt

Shared letters: eghrt. Private to "gekehrt": k. Private to "gewehrt": w.

"gekehrt" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCC  ·  "gewehrt" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • gekehrt ← egkehrt · geekhrt · gekehhrt · gekehrrt · gekehrtt · gekehtr · gekerht · gekhert
  • gewehrt ← egwehrt · geewhrt · gewehhrt · gewehrrt · gewehrtt · gewehtr · gewerht · gewhert

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "gekehrt" and "gewehrt" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ɡəˈkeːɐ̯t] versus [ɡəˈveːɐ̯t]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "gekehrt" or "gewehrt"?
"gewehrt" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #20,604 in our German list, against #21,267 for "gekehrt". 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 "gekehrt" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "gewehrt" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,466,567 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "gekehrt" and "gewehrt" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "gedehnt vs gekehrt". 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 #1,466,567 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