gewagtevsgewählteWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#38,141
“gewagte” frequency rank
#8,567
“gewählte” frequency rank
46708
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature gewagte gewählte
Definition Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs gewagt Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs gewählt

Where the eye mixes gewagte and gewählte

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. gewagte runs 7 letters (CVCVCCV) against gewählte's 8 (CVCVCCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

7 ch
gewagte
8 ch
gewählte

Visual trap between gewagte and gewählte

A purely visual mix-up. gewagte ([ɡəˈvaːktə]) and gewählte ([ɡəˈvɛːltə]) 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 46708, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

gewagte is recorded at frequency rank #38,141, classified as anadj, pronounced [ɡəˈvaːktə]. gewählte is at rank #8,567, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ɡəˈvɛːltə].

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 46708, this pair ranks #1,309,760 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of gewagte vs gewählte

Shared letters: egtw. Private to "gewagte": a. Private to "gewählte": hlä.

"gewagte" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCV  ·  "gewählte" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • gewagte ← egwagte · geawgte · gewaget · gewaggte · gewagtte · gewatge · gewgate · gewwagte

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "gewagte" and "gewählte" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ɡəˈvaːktə] versus [ɡəˈvɛːltə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "gewagte" or "gewählte"?
"gewählte" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,567 in our German list, against #38,141 for "gewagte". 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 "gewagte" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "gewählte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,309,760 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "gewagte" and "gewählte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "gefragte vs gewagte". 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 #1,309,760 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