Which to use
“geltend” is a verb and “geltenden” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #7,181
- “geltend” frequency rank
- #7,766
- “geltenden” frequency rank
- 14947
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | geltend | geltenden |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Partizip Präsens des Verbs gelten | Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs geltend |
Where the eye mixes geltend and geltenden
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between geltend and geltenden
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: geltend is [ˈɡɛltn̩t] while geltenden is [ˈɡɛltn̩dən]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “geltend” sits inside “geltenden”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 14947, 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]. geltenden is at rank #7,766, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈɡɛltn̩dən].
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 14947, this pair ranks #1,947,560 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of geltend vs geltenden
Shared letters: deglnt. Private to "geltend": -. Private to "geltenden": -.
"geltend" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCC · "geltenden" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "geltend" and "geltenden" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "geltend" or "geltenden" show up more?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "geltend" and "geltenden" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "geltend" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "geltenden" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,947,560 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "geltend" and "geltenden" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "geltendem vs geltenden". 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 #1,947,560 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.