geselligvsgeselligeConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#43,220
“gesellig” frequency rank
#43,921
“gesellige” frequency rank
87141
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature gesellig gesellige
Definition in netter Gesellschaft Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs gesellig

Where the eye mixes gesellig and gesellige

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence.

8 ch
gesellig
9 ch
gesellige

Visual trap between gesellig and gesellige

A purely visual mix-up. gesellig ([ɡəˈzɛlɪç]) and gesellige ([ɡəˈzɛlɪɡə]) 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 extra letter(s) - “gesellig” sits inside “gesellige”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 87141, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

gesellig is recorded at frequency rank #43,220, classified as anadj, pronounced [ɡəˈzɛlɪç]. gesellige is at rank #43,921, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ɡəˈzɛlɪɡə].

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 87141, this pair ranks #84,256 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of gesellig vs gesellige

Shared letters: egils. Private to "gesellig": -. Private to "gesellige": -.

"gesellig" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC  ·  "gesellige" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • geselligegsellig · geesllig · geselig · geselilg · gesellgi · geselligg · geslelig · gessellig
  • geselligeegsellige · geesllige · geselige · geselilge · gesellgie · gesellieg · geselligge · geslelige

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "gesellig" and "gesellige" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ɡəˈzɛlɪç] versus [ɡəˈzɛlɪɡə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "gesellig" or "gesellige" show up more?
"gesellig" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #43,220 in our German list, against #43,921 for "gesellige". 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 "gesellig" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "gesellige" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #84,256 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "gesellig" and "gesellige" 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 #84,256 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