GerätevsgesteWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#3,042
“Geräte” frequency rank
#8,566
“geste” frequency rank
11608
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Geräte geste
Definition Variante für den Dativ Singular des Substantivs Gerät Gebärde, Geste

Where the eye mixes Geräte and geste

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

6 ch
Geräte
5 ch
geste

Visual trap between Geräte and geste

A purely visual mix-up. Geräte ([ɡəˈʁɛːtə]) and geste ([ʒɛst]) 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 11608, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Geräte is recorded at frequency rank #3,042, classified as anoun, pronounced [ɡəˈʁɛːtə]. geste is at rank #8,566, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ʒɛst].

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 11608, this pair ranks #1,968,929 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Geräte vs geste

Shared letters: egt. Private to "Geräte": . Private to "geste": s.

"Geräte" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV  ·  "geste" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • gesteegste · geset · gesste · gestte · getse · ggeste · gsete

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Geräte" for "geste" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ɡəˈʁɛːtə] versus [ʒɛst]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Geräte" or "geste"?
"Geräte" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,042 in our German list, against #8,566 for "geste". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Geräte" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "geste" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,968,929 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Geräte" and "geste" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Geräte vs grave". 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 #1,968,929 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