gelegenvsgelegtenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#3,447
“gelegen” frequency rank
#39,961
“gelegten” frequency rank
43408
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature gelegen gelegten
Definition nach Ort, Zeit oder Umständen willkommen, recht, dienlich Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs gelegt

Where the eye mixes gelegen and gelegten

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

7 ch
gelegen
8 ch
gelegten

Look-alike desk: gelegen vs gelegten

A purely visual mix-up. gelegen ([ɡəˈleːɡn̩]) 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 43408, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

gelegen is recorded at frequency rank #3,447, classified as anadj, pronounced [ɡəˈleːɡn̩]. 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 43408, this pair ranks #1,419,082 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of gelegen vs gelegten

Shared letters: egln. Private to "gelegen": -. Private to "gelegten": t.

"gelegen" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC  ·  "gelegten" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • gelegen ← eglegen · geelgen · geleegn · gelegenn · geleggen · gelegne · gelgeen · gellegen
  • gelegten ← eglegten · geelgten · gelegetn · geleggten · gelegtenn · gelegtne · gelegtten · geletgen

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "gelegen" for "gelegten" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ɡəˈleːɡn̩] versus [ɡəˈleːktn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "gelegen" or "gelegten"?
"gelegen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,447 in our German list, against #39,961 for "gelegten". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Useful next steps

Eye-level mix-up between "gelegen" and "gelegten" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "gelegen" 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 #1,419,082 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "gelegen" 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 #1,419,082 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