gelebtevsgelegtenWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#23,147
“gelebte” frequency rank
#39,961
“gelegten” frequency rank
63108
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature gelebte gelegten
Definition Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs gelebt Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs gelegt

Where the eye mixes gelebte and gelegten

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. gelebte runs 7 letters (CVCVCCV) against gelegten's 8 (CVCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

7 ch
gelebte
8 ch
gelegten

Why the eye confuses gelebte with gelegten

A purely visual mix-up. gelebte ([ɡəˈleːptə]) and gelegten ([ɡəˈleːktn̩]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 63108, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

gelebte is recorded at frequency rank #23,147, classified as anadj, pronounced [ɡəˈleːptə]. gelegten is at rank #39,961, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ɡəˈleːktn̩].

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 63108, this pair ranks #688,511 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of gelebte vs gelegten

Shared letters: eglt. Private to "gelebte": b. Private to "gelegten": n.

"gelebte" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCV  ·  "gelegten" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • gelebteeglebte · geelbte · gelbete · gelebbte · gelebet · gelebtte · geletbe · gellebte
  • gelegteneglegten · geelgten · gelegetn · geleggten · gelegtenn · gelegtne · gelegtten · geletgen

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "gelebte" and "gelegten" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ɡəˈleːptə] versus [ɡəˈleːktn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "gelebte" vs "gelegten" - which ranks higher?
"gelebte" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #23,147 in our German list, against #39,961 for "gelegten". 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 "gelebte" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "gelegten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #688,511 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "gelebte" and "gelegten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "gelegten vs gelobten". 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 #688,511 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