Which to use
“gelangen” is a verb and “gelangte” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #3,191
- “gelangen” frequency rank
- #9,913
- “gelangte” frequency rank
- 13104
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | gelangen | gelangte |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | ein Ziel erreichen | Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs gelangt |
Where the eye mixes gelangen and gelangte
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. gelangen (CVCVCCVC) and gelangte (CVCVCCCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Visual trap between gelangen and gelangte
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: gelangen is [ɡəˈlaŋən] while gelangte is [ɡəˈlaŋtə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 13104, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
gelangen is recorded at frequency rank #3,191, classified as averb, pronounced [ɡəˈlaŋən]. gelangte is at rank #9,913, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ɡəˈlaŋtə].
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 13104, this pair ranks #1,960,095 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of gelangen vs gelangte
Shared letters: aegln. Private to "gelangen": -. Private to "gelangte": t.
"gelangen" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC · "gelangte" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "gelangen" and "gelangte" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "gelangen" or "gelangte"?
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 "gelangen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "gelangte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,960,095 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "gelangen" and "gelangte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "gegangene vs gelangen". 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 #1,960,095 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.