Which to use
“gelte” is an adjective and “Gifte” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #14,811
- “gelte” frequency rank
- #35,208
- “Gifte” frequency rank
- 50019
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | gelte | Gifte |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs gelt | Variante für den Dativ Singular des Substantivs Gift |
Where the eye mixes gelte and Gifte
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. gelte and Gifte follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses gelte with Gifte
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: gelte is [ˈɡɛltə] while Gifte is [ˈɡɪftə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 50019, 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]. Gifte is at rank #35,208, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈɡɪftə].
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 50019, this pair ranks #1,189,635 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of gelte vs Gifte
Shared letters: egt. Private to "gelte": l. Private to "Gifte": fi.
"gelte" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV · "Gifte" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "gelte" for "Gifte" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "gelte" or "Gifte" show up more?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "gelte" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "Gifte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,189,635 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "gelte" and "Gifte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Gifte vs Grete". 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 #1,189,635 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.