gestattenvsgestrittenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#13,379
“gestatten” frequency rank
#13,613
“gestritten” frequency rank
26992
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature gestatten gestritten
Definition jemandem etwas erlauben Partizip Perfekt des Verbs streiten

Where the eye mixes gestatten and gestritten

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence.

9 ch
gestatten
10 ch
gestritten

Why the eye confuses gestatten with gestritten

A purely visual mix-up. gestatten ([ɡəˈʃtatn̩]) and gestritten ([ɡəˈʃtʁɪtn̩]) 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 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 26992, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

gestatten is recorded at frequency rank #13,379, classified as averb, pronounced [ɡəˈʃtatn̩]. gestritten is at rank #13,613, tagged as averb, pronounced [ɡəˈʃtʁɪtn̩].

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 26992, this pair ranks #1,809,022 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of gestatten vs gestritten

Shared letters: egnst. Private to "gestatten": a. Private to "gestritten": ir.

"gestatten" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC  ·  "gestritten" · 10 letters · shape CVCCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • gestattenegstatten · gesattten · gesstatten · gestaten · gestatetn · gestattenn · gestattne · gesttaten
  • gestrittenegstritten · gesrtitten · gesstritten · gestirtten · gestriten · gestritetn · gestrittenn · gestrittne

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "gestatten" for "gestritten" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ɡəˈʃtatn̩] versus [ɡəˈʃtʁɪtn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "gestatten" vs "gestritten" - which ranks higher?
"gestatten" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #13,379 in our German list, against #13,613 for "gestritten". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "gestatten" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "gestritten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,809,022 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "gestatten" and "gestritten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "gestalte vs gestatten". 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 #1,809,022 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