gelassenvsgesessenWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: gelassen is a adjective, gesessen is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“gelassen” is an adjective and “gesessen” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#2,203
“gelassen” frequency rank
#9,205
“gesessen” frequency rank
11408
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature gelassen gesessen
Definition ruhig – meist trotz nervöser Atmosphäre; nicht beeindruckt Partizip Perfekt des Verbs sitzen

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set gelassen and gesessen apart are highlighted. They share 6 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

8 ch
gelassen
8 ch
gesessen

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: gelassen is [ɡəˈlasn̩] while gesessen is [ɡəˈzɛsn̩]. 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 (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 11408, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

gelassen is recorded at frequency rank #2,203, classified as anadj, pronounced [ɡəˈlasn̩]. gesessen is at rank #9,205, tagged as averb, pronounced [ɡəˈzɛsn̩].

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 11408, this pair ranks #1,970,016 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of gelassen vs gesessen

Shared letters: egns. Private to "gelassen": al. Private to "gesessen": -.

"gelassen" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC  ·  "gesessen" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • gelasseneglassen · gealssen · gelasen · gelasesn · gelassenn · gelassne · gelaßen · gellassen
  • gesessenegsessen · geesssen · gesesen · gesesesn · gesessenn · gesessne · geseßen · gessesen

Frequency comparison

gelassen#2,203
gesessen#9,205

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "gelassen" and "gesessen" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "gelassen" is an adjective and "gesessen" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "gelassen" or "gesessen"?
"gelassen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,203 in our German list, against #9,205 for "gesessen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering gelassen vs gesessen

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “gelassen”; for a verb, it's “gesessen”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “gelassen” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list