GEMAvsgetanConfusable pair

Quick tell: GEMA is a abbrev, getan is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“GEMA” is an abbrev and “getan” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#16,161
“GEMA” frequency rank
#1,182
“getan” frequency rank
17343
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature GEMA getan
Definition Gesellschaft für musikalische Aufführungs- und mechanische Vervielfältigungsrechte Partizip Perfekt des Verbs tun

Where the eye mixes GEMA and getan

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

4 ch
GEMA
5 ch
getan

Visual trap between GEMA and getan

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: GEMA is [ˈɡeːma] while getan is [ɡəˈtaːn]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (abbrev vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 17343, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

GEMA is recorded at frequency rank #16,161, classified as anabbrev, pronounced [ˈɡeːma]. getan is at rank #1,182, tagged as averb, pronounced [ɡəˈtaːn].

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 17343, this pair ranks #1,928,220 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of GEMA vs getan

Shared letters: aeg. Private to "GEMA": m. Private to "getan": nt.

"GEMA" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "getan" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • GEMAegma · geam · ggema · gmea
  • getanegtan · geatn · getann · getna · gettan · ggetan · gtean

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "GEMA" and "getan" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "GEMA" is an abbrev and "getan" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "GEMA" or "getan" show up more?
"getan" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,182 in our German list, against #16,161 for "GEMA". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Useful next steps

Eye-level mix-up between "GEMA" and "getan" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "GEMA" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "getan" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,928,220 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "GEMA" and "getan" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "GEMA vs GIMP". 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 #1,928,220 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