Which to use
“Gelenken” is a noun and “gesunken” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #38,766
- “Gelenken” frequency rank
- #8,212
- “gesunken” frequency rank
- 46978
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Gelenken | gesunken |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Dativ Plural des Substantivs Gelenk | Partizip Perfekt des Verbs sinken |
Where the eye mixes Gelenken and gesunken
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. Gelenken and gesunken follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses Gelenken with gesunken
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Gelenken is [ɡəˈlɛŋkn̩] while gesunken is [ɡəˈzʊŋkn̩]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 46978, 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]. gesunken is at rank #8,212, tagged as averb, pronounced [ɡəˈzʊŋkn̩].
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 46978, this pair ranks #1,300,381 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of Gelenken vs gesunken
Shared letters: egkn. Private to "Gelenken": l. Private to "gesunken": su.
"Gelenken" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC · "gesunken" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "Gelenken" and "gesunken" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "Gelenken" or "gesunken"?
After this comparison
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 "gesunken" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,300,381 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Gelenken" and "gesunken" 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 #1,300,381 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.