gesellvsGesetzWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#49,726
“gesell” frequency rank
#1,058
“Gesetz” frequency rank
50784
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature gesell Gesetz
Definition 2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs gesellen Regel, die ein Gesetzgeber in einem bestimmten Verfahren erlässt und die die jeweilig Untergebenen zu befolgen haben

Where the eye mixes gesell and Gesetz

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

6 ch
gesell
6 ch
Gesetz

Why the eye confuses gesell with Gesetz

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: gesell is [ɡəˈzɛl] while Gesetz is [ɡəˈzɛt͡s]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 50784, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

gesell is recorded at frequency rank #49,726, classified as averb, pronounced [ɡəˈzɛl]. 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 50784, this pair ranks #1,160,619 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of gesell vs Gesetz

Shared letters: egs. Private to "gesell": l. Private to "Gesetz": tz.

"gesell" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC  ·  "Gesetz" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • gesellegsell · geesll · gesel · geslel · gessell · ggesell · gseell
  • Gesetzegsetz · geestz · gesettz · gesetzz · gesezt · gessetz · gestez · ggesetz

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "gesell" and "Gesetz" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "gesell" is a verb and "Gesetz" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "gesell" 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 #49,726 for "gesell". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Useful next steps

Eye-level mix-up between "gesell" and "Gesetz" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "gesell" 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 #1,160,619 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "gesell" and "Gesetz" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "gesell vs gesellig". 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 #1,160,619 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