gesperrtvsgesperrteWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#3,044
“gesperrt” frequency rank
#48,931
“gesperrte” frequency rank
51975
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature gesperrt gesperrte
Definition mit einer Sperre versehen Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs gesperrt

Where the eye mixes gesperrt and gesperrte

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

8 ch
gesperrt
9 ch
gesperrte

Look-alike desk: gesperrt vs gesperrte

A purely visual mix-up. gesperrt ([ɡəˈʃpɛʁt]) and gesperrte ([ɡəˈʃpɛʁtə]) 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) - “gesperrt” sits inside “gesperrte”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 51975, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

gesperrt is recorded at frequency rank #3,044, classified as anadj, pronounced [ɡəˈʃpɛʁt]. gesperrte is at rank #48,931, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ɡəˈʃpɛʁtə].

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 51975, this pair ranks #1,114,749 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of gesperrt vs gesperrte

Shared letters: egprst. Private to "gesperrt": -. Private to "gesperrte": -.

"gesperrt" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCCC  ·  "gesperrte" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • gesperrt ← egsperrt · gepserrt · geseprrt · gesperrtt · gespert · gespertr · gespperrt · gesprert
  • gesperrte ← egsperrte · gepserrte · geseprrte · gesperret · gesperrtte · gesperte · gespertre · gespperrte

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "gesperrt" for "gesperrte" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ɡəˈʃpɛʁt] versus [ɡəˈʃpɛʁtə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "gesperrt" or "gesperrte"?
"gesperrt" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,044 in our German list, against #48,931 for "gesperrte". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "gesperrt" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "gesperrte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,114,749 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "gesperrt" and "gesperrte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "gesperrte vs gesperrten". 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 #1,114,749 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