gelistetenvsgelittenConfusable pair

Quick tell: gelisteten is a adjective, gelitten is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“gelisteten” is an adjective and “gelitten” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#42,520
“gelisteten” frequency rank
#10,288
“gelitten” frequency rank
52808
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature gelisteten gelitten
Definition Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs gelistet Partizip Perfekt des Verbs leiden

Where the eye mixes gelisteten and gelitten

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. gelisteten runs 10 letters (CVCVCCVCVC) against gelitten's 8 (CVCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

10 ch
gelisteten
8 ch
gelitten

Why the eye confuses gelisteten with gelitten

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: gelisteten is [ɡəˈlɪstətn̩] while gelitten is [ɡəˈlɪtn̩]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 52808, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

gelisteten is recorded at frequency rank #42,520, classified as anadj, pronounced [ɡəˈlɪstətn̩]. 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 52808, this pair ranks #1,082,478 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of gelisteten vs gelitten

Shared letters: egilnt. Private to "gelisteten": s. Private to "gelitten": -.

"gelisteten" · 10 letters · shape CVCVCCVCVC  ·  "gelitten" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • gelisteteneglisteten · geilsteten · gelisetten · gelissteten · gelisteetn · gelistetenn · gelistetne · gelistetten
  • gelitteneglitten · geiltten · geliten · gelitetn · gelittenn · gelittne · gellitten · geltiten

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "gelisteten" for "gelitten" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "gelisteten" is an adjective and "gelitten" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "gelisteten" or "gelitten"?
"gelitten" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,288 in our German list, against #42,520 for "gelisteten". 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 "gelisteten" and "gelitten" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "gelisteten" 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 #1,082,478 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "gelisteten" and "gelitten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "gelisteten vs getesteten". 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 #1,082,478 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