geschiedenvsgeschriebenWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#11,440
“geschieden” frequency rank
#856
“geschrieben” frequency rank
12296
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature geschieden geschrieben
Definition im Familienstand nach einer Ehescheidung lebend schriftlich festgehalten

Where the eye mixes geschieden and geschrieben

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence.

10 ch
geschieden
11 ch
geschrieben

Visual trap between geschieden and geschrieben

A purely visual mix-up. geschieden ([ɡəˈʃiːdn̩]) and geschrieben ([ɡəˈʃʁiːbn̩]) 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 12296, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

geschieden is recorded at frequency rank #11,440, classified as anadj, pronounced [ɡəˈʃiːdn̩]. geschrieben is at rank #856, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ɡəˈʃʁiːbn̩].

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 12296, this pair ranks #1,965,027 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of geschieden vs geschrieben

Shared letters: ceghins. Private to "geschieden": d. Private to "geschrieben": br.

"geschieden" · 10 letters · shape CVCCCVVCVC  ·  "geschrieben" · 11 letters · shape CVCCCCVVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • geschiedenegschieden · gecshieden · gescchieden · gescheiden · geschhieden · geschideen · geschiedden · geschiedenn
  • geschriebenegschrieben · gecshrieben · gescchrieben · geschhrieben · geschireben · geschreiben · geschribeen · geschriebben

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "geschieden" for "geschrieben" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ɡəˈʃiːdn̩] versus [ɡəˈʃʁiːbn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "geschieden" or "geschrieben" show up more?
"geschrieben" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #856 in our German list, against #11,440 for "geschieden". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "geschieden" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "geschrieben" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,965,027 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "geschieden" and "geschrieben" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "geschieden vs geschiedenen". 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 #1,965,027 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