geltendenvsgeltendesWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#7,766
“geltenden” frequency rank
#29,596
“geltendes” frequency rank
37362
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature geltenden geltendes
Definition Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs geltend Nominativ Singular Neutrum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs geltend

Where the eye mixes geltenden and geltendes

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. geltenden and geltendes follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

9 ch
geltenden
9 ch
geltendes

Visual trap between geltenden and geltendes

A purely visual mix-up. geltenden ([ˈɡɛltn̩dən]) and geltendes ([ˈɡɛltn̩dəs]) 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 a single letter - n in “geltenden” becomes s in “geltendes”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 37362, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

geltenden is recorded at frequency rank #7,766, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈɡɛltn̩dən]. geltendes is at rank #29,596, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈɡɛltn̩dəs].

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 37362, this pair ranks #1,592,216 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of geltenden vs geltendes

Shared letters: deglnt. Private to "geltenden": -. Private to "geltendes": s.

"geltenden" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC  ·  "geltendes" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • geltendenegltenden · geletnden · gelltenden · geltednen · geltendden · geltendenn · geltendne · geltenedn
  • geltendesegltendes · geletndes · gelltendes · geltednes · geltenddes · geltendess · geltendse · gelteneds

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "geltenden" and "geltendes" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈɡɛltn̩dən] versus [ˈɡɛltn̩dəs]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "geltenden" or "geltendes"?
"geltenden" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,766 in our German list, against #29,596 for "geltendes". 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 "geltenden" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "geltendes" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,592,216 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "geltenden" and "geltendes" 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 #1,592,216 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