gelehntvsgelenktWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#47,430
“gelehnt” frequency rank
#17,300
“gelenkt” frequency rank
64730
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature gelehnt gelenkt
Definition Partizip Perfekt des Verbs lehnen Partizip Perfekt des Verbs lenken

Where the eye mixes gelehnt and gelenkt

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. gelehnt and gelenkt follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVCCC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

7 ch
gelehnt
7 ch
gelenkt

Why the eye confuses gelehnt with gelenkt

A purely visual mix-up. gelehnt ([ɡəˈleːnt]) and gelenkt ([ɡəˈlɛŋkt]) 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 64730, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

gelehnt is recorded at frequency rank #47,430, classified as averb, pronounced [ɡəˈleːnt]. gelenkt is at rank #17,300, tagged as averb, pronounced [ɡəˈlɛŋkt].

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 64730, this pair ranks #631,312 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of gelehnt vs gelenkt

Shared letters: eglnt. Private to "gelehnt": h. Private to "gelenkt": k.

"gelehnt" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCC  ·  "gelenkt" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • gelehnteglehnt · geelhnt · gelehhnt · gelehnnt · gelehntt · gelehtn · gelenht · gelhent
  • gelenkteglenkt · geelnkt · geleknt · gelenkkt · gelenktt · gelennkt · gelentk · gellenkt

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "gelehnt" for "gelenkt" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ɡəˈleːnt] versus [ɡəˈlɛŋkt]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "gelehnt" vs "gelenkt" - which ranks higher?
"gelenkt" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #17,300 in our German list, against #47,430 for "gelehnt". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "gelehnt" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "gelenkt" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #631,312 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "gelehnt" and "gelenkt" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "geleakt vs gelehnt". 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 #631,312 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