geliehenvsgelittenWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#22,736
“geliehen” frequency rank
#10,288
“gelitten” frequency rank
33024
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature geliehen gelitten
Definition Partizip Perfekt des Verbs leihen Partizip Perfekt des Verbs leiden

Where the eye mixes geliehen and gelitten

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. geliehen (CVCVVCVC) and gelitten (CVCVCCVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

8 ch
geliehen
8 ch
gelitten

Why the eye confuses geliehen with gelitten

A purely visual mix-up. geliehen ([ɡəˈliːən]) and gelitten ([ɡəˈlɪtn̩]) 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 33024, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

geliehen is recorded at frequency rank #22,736, classified as averb, pronounced [ɡəˈliːən]. gelitten is at rank #10,288, tagged as averb, pronounced [ɡəˈlɪtn̩].

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 33024, this pair ranks #1,694,929 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of geliehen vs gelitten

Shared letters: egiln. Private to "geliehen": h. Private to "gelitten": t.

"geliehen" · 8 letters · shape CVCVVCVC  ·  "gelitten" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • geliehenegliehen · geilehen · geleihen · gelieehn · geliehenn · geliehhen · geliehne · geliheen
  • gelitteneglitten · geiltten · geliten · gelitetn · gelittenn · gelittne · gellitten · geltiten

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "geliehen" for "gelitten" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ɡəˈliːən] versus [ɡəˈlɪtn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "geliehen" vs "gelitten" - which ranks higher?
"gelitten" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,288 in our German list, against #22,736 for "geliehen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "geliehen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "gelitten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,694,929 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "geliehen" and "gelitten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "geliehen vs gerieben". 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 #1,694,929 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