geltevsguteConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#14,811
“gelte” frequency rank
#226
“gute” frequency rank
15037
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature gelte gute
Definition Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs gelt Nominativ Singular Femininum Positiv der starken Flexion des Adjektivs gut

Where the eye mixes gelte and gute

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

5 ch
gelte
4 ch
gute

Visual trap between gelte and gute

A purely visual mix-up. gelte ([ˈɡɛltə]) and gute ([ˈɡuːtə]) 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 15037, 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]. gute is at rank #226, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈɡuːtə].

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 15037, this pair ranks #1,946,875 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of gelte vs gute

Shared letters: egt. Private to "gelte": l. Private to "gute": u.

"gelte" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "gute" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • gelteeglte · gelet · gellte · geltte · getle · ggelte · glete
  • guteggute · gtue · guet · gutte · ugte

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "gelte" and "gute" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈɡɛltə] versus [ˈɡuːtə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "gelte" or "gute"?
"gute" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #226 in our German list, against #14,811 for "gelte". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

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 "gute" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,946,875 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "gelte" and "gute" 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 #1,946,875 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