gespanntvsgespannteTell them apart

Which to use

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

#2,596
“gespannt” frequency rank
#48,930
“gespannte” frequency rank
51526
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature gespannt gespannte
Definition voller Erwartung darauf, wie etwas sein wird Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs gespannt

Where the eye mixes gespannt and gespannte

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. gespannt runs 8 letters (CVCCVCCC) against gespannte's 9 (CVCCVCCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

8 ch
gespannt
9 ch
gespannte

Why the eye confuses gespannt with gespannte

A purely visual mix-up. gespannt ([ɡəˈʃpant]) and gespannte ([ɡəˈʃpantə]) 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) - “gespannt” sits inside “gespannte”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 51526, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

gespannt is recorded at frequency rank #2,596, classified as anadj, pronounced [ɡəˈʃpant]. gespannte is at rank #48,930, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ɡəˈʃpantə].

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 51526, this pair ranks #1,132,119 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of gespannt vs gespannte

Shared letters: aegnpst. Private to "gespannt": -. Private to "gespannte": -.

"gespannt" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCCC  ·  "gespannte" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • gespanntegspannt · gepsannt · gesapnnt · gespanntt · gespant · gespantn · gespnant · gesppannt
  • gespannteegspannte · gepsannte · gesapnnte · gespannet · gespanntte · gespante · gespantne · gespnante

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "gespannt" and "gespannte" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ɡəˈʃpant] versus [ɡəˈʃpantə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "gespannt" vs "gespannte" - which ranks higher?
"gespannt" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,596 in our German list, against #48,930 for "gespannte". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Useful next steps

Eye-level mix-up between "gespannt" and "gespannte" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "gespannt" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "gespannte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,132,119 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "gespannt" and "gespannte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "gescannt vs gespannte". 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 #1,132,119 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