geltendvsgeltendemWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: geltend is a verb, geltendem is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

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

#7,181
“geltend” frequency rank
#49,708
“geltendem” frequency rank
56889
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature geltend geltendem
Definition Partizip Präsens des Verbs gelten Dativ Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs geltend

Where the eye mixes geltend and geltendem

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. geltend runs 7 letters (CVCCVCC) against geltendem's 9 (CVCCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

7 ch
geltend
9 ch
geltendem

Look-alike desk: geltend vs geltendem

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: geltend is [ˈɡɛltn̩t] while geltendem is [ˈɡɛltn̩dəm]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “geltend” sits inside “geltendem”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 56889, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

geltend is recorded at frequency rank #7,181, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈɡɛltn̩t]. geltendem is at rank #49,708, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈɡɛltn̩dəm].

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 56889, this pair ranks #922,820 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of geltend vs geltendem

Shared letters: deglnt. Private to "geltend": -. Private to "geltendem": m.

"geltend" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCC  ·  "geltendem" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • geltend ← egltend · geletnd · gelltend · geltedn · geltendd · geltennd · geltned · gelttend
  • geltendem ← egltendem · geletndem · gelltendem · geltednem · geltenddem · geltendemm · geltendme · geltenedm

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "geltend" and "geltendem" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "geltend" is a verb and "geltendem" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "geltend" or "geltendem" show up more?
"geltend" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,181 in our German list, against #49,708 for "geltendem". 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 "geltend" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "geltendem" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #922,820 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "geltend" and "geltendem" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "geltendem vs geltendes". 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 #922,820 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