gelindevsgeltendeWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#33,073
“gelinde” frequency rank
#13,148
“geltende” frequency rank
46221
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature gelinde geltende
Definition von geringer Stärke Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs geltend

Where the eye mixes gelinde and geltende

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

7 ch
gelinde
8 ch
geltende

Visual trap between gelinde and geltende

A purely visual mix-up. gelinde ([ɡəˈlɪndə]) and geltende ([ˈɡɛltn̩də]) 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 46221, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

gelinde is recorded at frequency rank #33,073, classified as anadj, pronounced [ɡəˈlɪndə]. geltende is at rank #13,148, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈɡɛltn̩də].

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 46221, this pair ranks #1,326,483 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of gelinde vs geltende

Shared letters: degln. Private to "gelinde": i. Private to "geltende": t.

"gelinde" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCV  ·  "geltende" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • gelinde ← eglinde · geilnde · gelidne · gelindde · gelined · gelinnde · gellinde · gelnide
  • geltende ← egltende · geletnde · gelltende · geltedne · geltendde · geltened · geltennde · geltnede

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "gelinde" and "geltende" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ɡəˈlɪndə] versus [ˈɡɛltn̩də]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "gelinde" or "geltende" show up more?
"geltende" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #13,148 in our German list, against #33,073 for "gelinde". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "gelinde" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "geltende" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,326,483 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "gelinde" and "geltende" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "gelinde vs Gerlinde". 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 #1,326,483 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