GesichtvsgestehtTell them apart

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

Which to use

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

#778
“Gesicht” frequency rank
#13,380
“gesteht” frequency rank
14158
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Gesicht gesteht
Definition die vom Haupthaar ausgesparte Vorderseite des menschlichen Kopfes, auf der die Augen, die Nase und der Mund liegen 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs gestehen

Where the eye mixes Gesicht and gesteht

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.

7 ch
Gesicht
7 ch
gesteht

Visual trap between Gesicht and gesteht

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Gesicht is [ɡəˈzɪçt] while gesteht is [ɡəˈʃteːt]. 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 (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 14158, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Gesicht is recorded at frequency rank #778, classified as anoun, pronounced [ɡəˈzɪçt]. gesteht is at rank #13,380, tagged as averb, pronounced [ɡəˈʃteːt].

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 14158, this pair ranks #1,953,159 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Gesicht vs gesteht

Shared letters: eghst. Private to "Gesicht": ci. Private to "gesteht": -.

"Gesicht" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCC  ·  "gesteht" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Gesichtegsicht · geischt · gesciht · gesiccht · gesichht · gesichtt · gesicth · gesihct
  • gestehtegsteht · gesetht · gessteht · gestehht · gestehtt · gesteth · gesthet · gestteht

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Gesicht" and "gesteht" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Gesicht" is a noun and "gesteht" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "Gesicht" vs "gesteht" - which ranks higher?
"Gesicht" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #778 in our German list, against #13,380 for "gesteht". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

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 "Gesicht" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "gesteht" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,953,159 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Gesicht" and "gesteht" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Gedichts vs Gesicht". 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 #1,953,159 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