gemaltvsgesätWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#7,767
“gemalt” frequency rank
#34,127
“gesät” frequency rank
41894
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature gemalt gesät
Definition Partizip Perfekt des Verbs malen Partizip Perfekt des Verbs säen

Where the eye mixes gemalt and gesät

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

6 ch
gemalt
5 ch
gesät

Why the eye confuses gemalt with gesät

A purely visual mix-up. gemalt ([ɡəˈmaːlt]) and gesät ([ɡəˈzɛːt]) 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 41894, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

gemalt is recorded at frequency rank #7,767, classified as averb, pronounced [ɡəˈmaːlt]. gesät is at rank #34,127, tagged as averb, pronounced [ɡəˈzɛːt].

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 41894, this pair ranks #1,465,865 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of gemalt vs gesät

Shared letters: egt. Private to "gemalt": alm. Private to "gesät": .

"gemalt" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC  ·  "gesät" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • gemaltegmalt · geamlt · gemallt · gemaltt · gematl · gemlat · gemmalt · ggemalt

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "gemalt" for "gesät" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ɡəˈmaːlt] versus [ɡəˈzɛːt]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "gemalt" or "gesät"?
"gemalt" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,767 in our German list, against #34,127 for "gesät". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "gemalt" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "gesät" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,465,865 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "gemalt" and "gesät" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "gemäht vs gesät". 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 #1,465,865 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