gemaltevsgestalteWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: gemalte is a adjective, gestalte is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“gemalte” is an adjective and “gestalte” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#40,556
“gemalte” frequency rank
#49,728
“gestalte” frequency rank
90284
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature gemalte gestalte
Definition Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs gemalt 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs gestalten

Where the eye mixes gemalte and gestalte

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

7 ch
gemalte
8 ch
gestalte

Visual trap between gemalte and gestalte

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: gemalte is [ɡəˈmaːltə] while gestalte is [ɡəˈʃtaltə]. 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 (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 90284, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

gemalte is recorded at frequency rank #40,556, classified as anadj, pronounced [ɡəˈmaːltə]. gestalte is at rank #49,728, tagged as averb, pronounced [ɡəˈʃtaltə].

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 90284, this pair ranks #48,480 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of gemalte vs gestalte

Shared letters: aeglt. Private to "gemalte": m. Private to "gestalte": s.

"gemalte" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCV  ·  "gestalte" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • gemalteegmalte · geamlte · gemalet · gemallte · gemaltte · gematle · gemlate · gemmalte
  • gestalteegstalte · gesatlte · gesstalte · gestalet · gestallte · gestatle · gestlate · gesttalte

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "gemalte" for "gestalte" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "gemalte" is an adjective and "gestalte" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "gemalte" vs "gestalte" - which ranks higher?
"gemalte" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #40,556 in our German list, against #49,728 for "gestalte". 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 "gemalte" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "gestalte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #48,480 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "gemalte" and "gestalte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "gemäht vs gemalte". 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 #48,480 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