GesichtvsgewischtWhat's the difference?

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

By · Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org ·

Which to use

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

#778
“Gesicht” frequency rank
#45,317
“gewischt” frequency rank
46095
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Gesicht gewischt
Definition die vom Haupthaar ausgesparte Vorderseite des menschlichen Kopfes, auf der die Augen, die Nase und der Mund liegen Partizip Perfekt des Verbs wischen

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set Gesicht and gewischt apart are highlighted. They share 6 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch
Gesicht
8 ch
gewischt

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Gesicht is [ɡəˈzɪçt] while gewischt is [ɡəˈvɪʃt]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 46095, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Gesicht is recorded at frequency rank #778, classified as anoun, pronounced [ɡəˈzɪçt]. gewischt is at rank #45,317, tagged as averb, pronounced [ɡəˈvɪʃt].

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 46095, this pair ranks #1,330,821 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Gesicht vs gewischt

Shared letters: ceghist. Private to "Gesicht": -. Private to "gewischt": w.

"Gesicht" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCC  ·  "gewischt" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Gesicht ← egsicht · geischt · gesciht · gesiccht · gesichht · gesichtt · gesicth · gesihct
  • gewischt ← egwischt · geiwscht · gewicsht · gewisccht · gewischht · gewischtt · gewiscth · gewishct

Frequency comparison

Gesicht#778
gewischt#45,317

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Gesicht" and "gewischt" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Gesicht" is a noun and "gewischt" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Gesicht" or "gewischt"?
"Gesicht" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #778 in our German list, against #45,317 for "gewischt". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering Gesicht vs gewischt

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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