geltevsGeräteWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: gelte is a adjective, Geräte is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“gelte” is an adjective and “Geräte” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#14,811
“gelte” frequency rank
#3,042
“Geräte” frequency rank
17853
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature gelte Geräte
Definition Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs gelt Variante für den Dativ Singular des Substantivs Gerät

Where the eye mixes gelte and Geräte

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

5 ch
gelte
6 ch
Geräte

Visual trap between gelte and Geräte

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: gelte is [ˈɡɛltə] while Geräte is [ɡəˈʁɛːtə]. 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 noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 17853, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

gelte is recorded at frequency rank #14,811, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈɡɛltə]. Geräte is at rank #3,042, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ɡəˈʁɛːtə].

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 17853, this pair ranks #1,923,668 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of gelte vs Geräte

Shared letters: egt. Private to "gelte": l. Private to "Geräte": .

"gelte" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "Geräte" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • gelteeglte · gelet · gellte · geltte · getle · ggelte · glete

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "gelte" and "Geräte" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "gelte" is an adjective and "Geräte" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "gelte" vs "Geräte" - which ranks higher?
"Geräte" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,042 in our German list, against #14,811 for "gelte". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "gelte" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Geräte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,923,668 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "gelte" and "Geräte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "gelbem vs gelte". 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 #1,923,668 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