GeschichtevsgeschickteWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: Geschichte is a noun, geschickte is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Geschichte” is a noun and “geschickte” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#321
“Geschichte” frequency rank
#26,899
“geschickte” frequency rank
27220
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Geschichte geschickte
Definition Vergangenheit der Gesellschaft als Entwicklung und Anpassung gesellschaftlich organisierter Lebewesen an ihre Umwelt Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs geschickt

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set Geschichte and geschickte apart are highlighted. They share 9 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

10 ch
Geschichte
10 ch
geschickte

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Geschichte and geschickte form a confusable pair in the German index, two distinct headwords that are easily confused because they look alike, sound alike, or both. They differ by a single letter - h in “Geschichte” becomes k in “geschickte” - close enough that the eye skips over the difference, far enough that meaning fully diverges. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 27220, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Geschichte is recorded at frequency rank #321, classified as anoun, pronounced [ɡəˈʃɪçtə]. geschickte is at rank #26,899, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ɡəˈʃɪktə].

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 27220, this pair ranks #1,805,316 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Frequency comparison

Geschichte#321
geschickte#26,899

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Geschichte" and "geschickte" be used interchangeably?
No, "Geschichte" and "geschickte" have distinct meanings and cannot be swapped without changing the meaning of a sentence. Understanding the specific definition and context for each word is essential for correct usage.

Remembering Geschichte vs geschickte

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “Geschichte”; for an adjective, it's “geschickte”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “Geschichte” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list