geselltvsgewilltWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: gesellt is a verb, gewillt is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“gesellt” is a verb and “gewillt” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#30,580
“gesellt” frequency rank
#18,270
“gewillt” frequency rank
48850
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature gesellt gewillt
Definition 2. Person Plural Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs gesellen den Willen habend/mit dem Willen, etwas zu tun

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set gesellt and gewillt apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch
gesellt
7 ch
gewillt

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: gesellt is [ɡəˈzɛlt] while gewillt is [ɡəˈvɪlt]. 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 adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 48850, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

gesellt is recorded at frequency rank #30,580, classified as averb, pronounced [ɡəˈzɛlt]. gewillt is at rank #18,270, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ɡəˈvɪlt].

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 48850, this pair ranks #1,233,269 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of gesellt vs gewillt

Shared letters: eglt. Private to "gesellt": s. Private to "gewillt": iw.

"gesellt" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCC  ·  "gewillt" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • geselltegsellt · geesllt · geselltt · geselt · geseltl · geslelt · gessellt · ggesellt
  • gewilltegwillt · geiwllt · gewilltt · gewilt · gewiltl · gewlilt · gewwillt · ggewillt

Frequency comparison

gesellt#30,580
gewillt#18,270

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "gesellt" and "gewillt" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "gesellt" is a verb and "gewillt" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "gesellt" or "gewillt"?
"gewillt" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #18,270 in our German list, against #30,580 for "gesellt". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering gesellt vs gewillt

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “gesellt”; for an adjective, it's “gewillt”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “gesellt” 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