gestohlenvsgestorbenWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#4,515
“gestohlen” frequency rank
#1,420
“gestorben” frequency rank
5935
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature gestohlen gestorben
Definition aus jemandes Besitz/Eigentum entwendet nicht mehr lebend, verstorben

Where the eye mixes gestohlen and gestorben

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. gestohlen and gestorben follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

9 ch
gestohlen
9 ch
gestorben

Look-alike desk: gestohlen vs gestorben

A purely visual mix-up. gestohlen ([ɡəˈʃtoːlən]) and gestorben ([ɡəˈʃtɔʁbn̩]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 5935, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

gestohlen is recorded at frequency rank #4,515, classified as anadj, pronounced [ɡəˈʃtoːlən]. gestorben is at rank #1,420, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ɡəˈʃtɔʁbn̩].

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 5935, this pair ranks #1,993,252 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of gestohlen vs gestorben

Shared letters: egnost. Private to "gestohlen": hl. Private to "gestorben": br.

"gestohlen" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC  ·  "gestorben" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • gestohlen ← egstohlen · gesothlen · gesstohlen · gestholen · gestoheln · gestohhlen · gestohlenn · gestohllen
  • gestorben ← egstorben · gesotrben · gesstorben · gestobren · gestorbben · gestorbenn · gestorbne · gestorebn

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "gestohlen" and "gestorben" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ɡəˈʃtoːlən] versus [ɡəˈʃtɔʁbn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "gestohlen" or "gestorben"?
"gestorben" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,420 in our German list, against #4,515 for "gestohlen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "gestohlen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "gestorben" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,993,252 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "gestohlen" and "gestorben" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "gestohlen vs gestörten". 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 #1,993,252 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