gesätvsGesetzWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#34,127
“gesät” frequency rank
#1,058
“Gesetz” frequency rank
35185
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature gesät Gesetz
Definition Partizip Perfekt des Verbs säen Regel, die ein Gesetzgeber in einem bestimmten Verfahren erlässt und die die jeweilig Untergebenen zu befolgen haben

Where the eye mixes gesät and Gesetz

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

5 ch
gesät
6 ch
Gesetz

Why the eye confuses gesät with Gesetz

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: gesät is [ɡəˈzɛːt] while Gesetz is [ɡəˈzɛt͡s]. 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 (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 35185, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

gesät is recorded at frequency rank #34,127, classified as averb, pronounced [ɡəˈzɛːt]. Gesetz is at rank #1,058, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ɡəˈzɛt͡s].

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 35185, this pair ranks #1,645,999 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of gesät vs Gesetz

Shared letters: egst. Private to "gesät": ä. Private to "Gesetz": z.

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

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Gesetzegsetz · geestz · gesettz · gesetzz · gesezt · gessetz · gestez · ggesetz

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "gesät" and "Gesetz" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "gesät" is a verb and "Gesetz" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "gesät" vs "Gesetz" - which ranks higher?
"Gesetz" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,058 in our German list, against #34,127 for "gesät". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "gesät" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Gesetz" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,645,999 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "gesät" and "Gesetz" 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 #1,645,999 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