geliehenvsglichenWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#22,736
“geliehen” frequency rank
#36,369
“glichen” frequency rank
59105
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature geliehen glichen
Definition Partizip Perfekt des Verbs leihen 1. Person Plural Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs gleichen

Where the eye mixes geliehen and glichen

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

8 ch
geliehen
7 ch
glichen

Look-alike desk: geliehen vs glichen

A purely visual mix-up. geliehen ([ɡəˈliːən]) and glichen ([ˈɡlɪçn̩]) 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 59105, 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]. glichen is at rank #36,369, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈɡlɪçn̩].

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 59105, this pair ranks #837,142 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of geliehen vs glichen

Shared letters: eghiln. Private to "geliehen": -. Private to "glichen": c.

"geliehen" · 8 letters · shape CVCVVCVC  ·  "glichen" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • geliehen ← egliehen · geilehen · geleihen · gelieehn · geliehenn · geliehhen · geliehne · geliheen
  • glichen ← gglichen · gilchen · glcihen · glicchen · glicehn · glichenn · glichhen · glichne

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "geliehen" for "glichen" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ɡəˈliːən] versus [ˈɡlɪçn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "geliehen" or "glichen"?
"geliehen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #22,736 in our German list, against #36,369 for "glichen". 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 "geliehen" and "glichen" 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 "glichen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #837,142 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "geliehen" and "glichen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "gewichen vs glichen". 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 #837,142 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