GemahlvsgemahlenWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: Gemahl is a noun, gemahlen is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Gemahl” is a noun and “gemahlen” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#32,057
“Gemahl” frequency rank
#47,432
“gemahlen” frequency rank
79489
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Gemahl gemahlen
Definition der vermählte Mann Partizip Perfekt des Verbs mahlen

Where the eye mixes Gemahl and gemahlen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. Gemahl runs 6 letters (CVCVCC) against gemahlen's 8 (CVCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
Gemahl
8 ch
gemahlen

Why the eye confuses Gemahl with gemahlen

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Gemahl is [ɡəˈmaːl] while gemahlen is [ɡəˈmaːlən]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “Gemahl” sits inside “gemahlen”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 79489, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Gemahl is recorded at frequency rank #32,057, classified as anoun, pronounced [ɡəˈmaːl]. gemahlen is at rank #47,432, tagged as averb, pronounced [ɡəˈmaːlən].

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 79489, this pair ranks #215,422 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of Gemahl vs gemahlen

Shared letters: aeghlm. Private to "Gemahl": -. Private to "gemahlen": n.

"Gemahl" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC  ·  "gemahlen" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Gemahlegmahl · geamhl · gemahhl · gemahll · gemalh · gemhal · gemmahl · ggemahl
  • gemahlenegmahlen · geamhlen · gemaheln · gemahhlen · gemahlenn · gemahllen · gemahlne · gemalhen

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Gemahl" for "gemahlen" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Gemahl" is a noun and "gemahlen" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "Gemahl" vs "gemahlen" - which ranks higher?
"Gemahl" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #32,057 in our German list, against #47,432 for "gemahlen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Gemahl" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "gemahlen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #215,422 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Gemahl" and "gemahlen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "gemahlen vs gemalten". 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 #215,422 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