gesessenvsGesetzenWhich spelling fits?

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

Which to use

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

#9,205
“gesessen” frequency rank
#7,326
“Gesetzen” frequency rank
16531
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature gesessen Gesetzen
Definition Partizip Perfekt des Verbs sitzen Dativ Plural des Substantivs Gesetz

Where the eye mixes gesessen and Gesetzen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. gesessen and Gesetzen follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

8 ch
gesessen
8 ch
Gesetzen

Visual trap between gesessen and Gesetzen

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: gesessen is [ɡəˈzɛsn̩] while Gesetzen is [ɡəˈzɛt͡sn̩]. 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 16531, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

gesessen is recorded at frequency rank #9,205, classified as averb, pronounced [ɡəˈzɛsn̩]. Gesetzen is at rank #7,326, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ɡəˈzɛt͡sn̩].

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 16531, this pair ranks #1,935,086 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of gesessen vs Gesetzen

Shared letters: egns. Private to "gesessen": -. Private to "Gesetzen": tz.

"gesessen" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC  ·  "Gesetzen" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • gesessen ← egsessen · geesssen · gesesen · gesesesn · gesessenn · gesessne · geseßen · gessesen
  • Gesetzen ← egsetzen · geestzen · gesetezn · gesettzen · gesetzenn · gesetzne · gesetzzen · gesezten

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "gesessen" for "Gesetzen" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "gesessen" is a verb and "Gesetzen" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "gesessen" vs "Gesetzen" - which ranks higher?
"Gesetzen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,326 in our German list, against #9,205 for "gesessen". 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 "gesessen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Gesetzen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,935,086 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "gesessen" and "Gesetzen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Gemetzel vs Gesetzen". 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 #1,935,086 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