gelobtenvsgelogenWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#49,707
“gelobten” frequency rank
#9,204
“gelogen” frequency rank
58911
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature gelobten gelogen
Definition Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs gelobt Partizip Perfekt des Verbs lügen

Where the eye mixes gelobten and gelogen

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

8 ch
gelobten
7 ch
gelogen

Why the eye confuses gelobten with gelogen

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: gelobten is [ɡəˈloːptn̩] while gelogen is [ɡəˈloːɡn̩]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 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 58911, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

gelobten is recorded at frequency rank #49,707, classified as anadj, pronounced [ɡəˈloːptn̩]. gelogen is at rank #9,204, tagged as averb, pronounced [ɡəˈloːɡn̩].

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 58911, this pair ranks #844,620 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of gelobten vs gelogen

Shared letters: eglno. Private to "gelobten": bt. Private to "gelogen": -.

"gelobten" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC  ·  "gelogen" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • gelobteneglobten · gelboten · gellobten · gelobbten · gelobetn · gelobtenn · gelobtne · gelobtten
  • gelogeneglogen · gelgoen · gellogen · geloegn · gelogenn · geloggen · gelogne · geolgen

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "gelobten" and "gelogen" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "gelobten" is an adjective and "gelogen" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "gelobten" vs "gelogen" - which ranks higher?
"gelogen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #9,204 in our German list, against #49,707 for "gelobten". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "gelobten" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "gelogen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #844,620 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "gelobten" and "gelogen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "gelebten vs gelobten". 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 #844,620 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