gemachtevsgemalteWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#15,367
“gemachte” frequency rank
#40,556
“gemalte” frequency rank
55923
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature gemachte gemalte
Definition Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs gemacht Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs gemalt

Where the eye mixes gemachte and gemalte

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.

8 ch
gemachte
7 ch
gemalte

Visual trap between gemachte and gemalte

A purely visual mix-up. gemachte ([ɡəˈmaxtə]) and gemalte ([ɡəˈmaːltə]) 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 55923, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

gemachte is recorded at frequency rank #15,367, classified as anadj, pronounced [ɡəˈmaxtə]. gemalte is at rank #40,556, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ɡəˈmaːltə].

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 55923, this pair ranks #960,362 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of gemachte vs gemalte

Shared letters: aegmt. Private to "gemachte": ch. Private to "gemalte": l.

"gemachte" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCCV  ·  "gemalte" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • gemachteegmachte · geamchte · gemacchte · gemachet · gemachhte · gemachtte · gemacthe · gemahcte
  • gemalteegmalte · geamlte · gemalet · gemallte · gemaltte · gematle · gemlate · gemmalte

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "gemachte" for "gemalte" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ɡəˈmaxtə] versus [ɡəˈmaːltə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "gemachte" or "gemalte"?
"gemachte" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #15,367 in our German list, against #40,556 for "gemalte". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "gemachte" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "gemalte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #960,362 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "gemachte" and "gemalte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "gemalte vs gestalte". 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 #960,362 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