gestehenvsgestochenWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#10,859
“gestehen” frequency rank
#15,108
“gestochen” frequency rank
25967
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature gestehen gestochen
Definition etwas offen zugeben; ein Geständnis ablegen Partizip Perfekt des Verbs stechen

Where the eye mixes gestehen and gestochen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence.

8 ch
gestehen
9 ch
gestochen

Look-alike desk: gestehen vs gestochen

A purely visual mix-up. gestehen ([ɡəˈʃteːən]) and gestochen ([ɡəˈʃtɔxn̩]) 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 25967, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

gestehen is recorded at frequency rank #10,859, classified as averb, pronounced [ɡəˈʃteːən]. gestochen is at rank #15,108, tagged as averb, pronounced [ɡəˈʃtɔxn̩].

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 25967, this pair ranks #1,825,260 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of gestehen vs gestochen

Shared letters: eghnst. Private to "gestehen": -. Private to "gestochen": co.

"gestehen" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC  ·  "gestochen" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • gestehenegstehen · gesethen · gesstehen · gesteehn · gestehenn · gestehhen · gestehne · gestheen
  • gestochenegstochen · gesotchen · gesstochen · gestcohen · gestocchen · gestocehn · gestochenn · gestochhen

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "gestehen" and "gestochen" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ɡəˈʃteːən] versus [ɡəˈʃtɔxn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "gestehen" vs "gestochen" - which ranks higher?
"gestehen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,859 in our German list, against #15,108 for "gestochen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "gestehen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "gestochen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,825,260 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "gestehen" and "gestochen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "gestehen vs Gesteinen". 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 #1,825,260 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