Which to use
“gelbem” is an adjective and “gelten” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #43,206
- “gelbem” frequency rank
- #1,353
- “gelten” frequency rank
- 44559
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | gelbem | gelten |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Dativ Singular Maskulinum Positiv der starken Flexion des Adjektivs gelb | gültig, verbindlich sein |
Where the eye mixes gelbem and gelten
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. gelbem and gelten follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Look-alike desk: gelbem vs gelten
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: gelbem is [ˈɡɛlbəm] while gelten is [ˈɡɛltn̩]. 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 44559, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
gelbem is recorded at frequency rank #43,206, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈɡɛlbəm]. gelten is at rank #1,353, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈɡɛltn̩].
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 44559, this pair ranks #1,382,274 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of gelbem vs gelten
Shared letters: egl. Private to "gelbem": bm. Private to "gelten": nt.
"gelbem" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "gelten" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "gelbem" and "gelten" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary German text, does "gelbem" or "gelten" 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 "gelbem" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "gelten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,382,274 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "gelbem" and "gelten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Geber vs gelbem". 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 #1,382,274 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.