GeldervsGoldesWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#8,211
“Gelder” frequency rank
#43,929
“Goldes” frequency rank
52140
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Gelder Goldes
Definition Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Geld Genitiv Singular des Substantivs Gold

Where the eye mixes Gelder and Goldes

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. Gelder and Goldes follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

6 ch
Gelder
6 ch
Goldes

Visual trap between Gelder and Goldes

A purely visual mix-up. Gelder ([ˈɡɛldɐ]) and Goldes ([ˈɡɔldəs]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 52140, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Gelder is recorded at frequency rank #8,211, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈɡɛldɐ]. Goldes is at rank #43,929, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈɡɔldəs].

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 52140, this pair ranks #1,108,503 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Gelder vs Goldes

Shared letters: degl. Private to "Gelder": r. Private to "Goldes": os.

"Gelder" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "Goldes" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Geldereglder · gedler · geldder · gelderr · geldre · geledr · gellder · ggelder
  • Goldesggoldes · glodes · godles · golddes · goldess · goldse · goleds · golldes

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Gelder" for "Goldes" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈɡɛldɐ] versus [ˈɡɔldəs]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Gelder" or "Goldes"?
"Gelder" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,211 in our German list, against #43,929 for "Goldes". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Gelder" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Goldes" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,108,503 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Gelder" and "Goldes" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Gilden vs Goldes". 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 #1,108,503 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