GelenkenvsgelenktConfusable pair

Quick tell: Gelenken is a noun, gelenkt is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Gelenken” is a noun and “gelenkt” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#38,766
“Gelenken” frequency rank
#17,300
“gelenkt” frequency rank
56066
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Gelenken gelenkt
Definition Dativ Plural des Substantivs Gelenk Partizip Perfekt des Verbs lenken

Where the eye mixes Gelenken and gelenkt

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

8 ch
Gelenken
7 ch
gelenkt

Visual trap between Gelenken and gelenkt

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Gelenken is [ɡəˈlɛŋkn̩] while gelenkt is [ɡəˈlɛŋkt]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 56066, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Gelenken is recorded at frequency rank #38,766, classified as anoun, pronounced [ɡəˈlɛŋkn̩]. 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 56066, this pair ranks #954,909 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Gelenken vs gelenkt

Shared letters: egkln. Private to "Gelenken": -. Private to "gelenkt": t.

"Gelenken" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC  ·  "gelenkt" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Gelenkeneglenken · geelnken · geleknen · gelenekn · gelenkenn · gelenkken · gelenkne · gelennken
  • gelenkteglenkt · geelnkt · geleknt · gelenkkt · gelenktt · gelennkt · gelentk · gellenkt

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Gelenken" and "gelenkt" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Gelenken" is a noun and "gelenkt" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "Gelenken" 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 #38,766 for "Gelenken". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Gelenken" 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 #954,909 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Gelenken" and "gelenkt" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "gelebten vs Gelenken". 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 #954,909 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