Which to use
“Gelände” is a noun and “geltende” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #2,717
- “Gelände” frequency rank
- #13,148
- “geltende” frequency rank
- 15865
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Gelände | geltende |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | irgendein Teil der Landschaft | Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs geltend |
Where the eye mixes Gelände and geltende
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. Gelände runs 7 letters (CVCVCCV) against geltende's 8 (CVCCVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses Gelände with geltende
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Gelände is [ɡəˈlɛndə] while geltende is [ˈɡɛltn̩də]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 15865, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Gelände is recorded at frequency rank #2,717, classified as anoun, pronounced [ɡəˈlɛndə]. geltende is at rank #13,148, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈɡɛltn̩də].
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 15865, this pair ranks #1,940,530 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of Gelände vs geltende
Shared letters: degln. Private to "Gelände": ä. Private to "geltende": t.
"Gelände" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCV · "geltende" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- geltende ← egltende · geletnde · gelltende · geltedne · geltendde · geltened · geltennde · geltnede
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "Gelände" and "geltende" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary German text, does "Gelände" or "geltende" show up more?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "Gelände" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "geltende" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,940,530 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Gelände" and "geltende" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "geltende vs geltendem". 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 #1,940,530 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.