gewiesenvsGewissenConfusable pair

Quick tell: gewiesen is a verb, Gewissen is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“gewiesen” is a verb and “Gewissen” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#39,392
“gewiesen” frequency rank
#1,662
“Gewissen” frequency rank
41054
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature gewiesen Gewissen
Definition Partizip Perfekt des Verbs weisen Mechanismus, der die eigenen Handlungen und Urteile anhand geltender Moralvorstellungen bewertet

Where the eye mixes gewiesen and Gewissen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. gewiesen (CVCVVCVC) and Gewissen (CVCVCCVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

8 ch
gewiesen
8 ch
Gewissen

Why the eye confuses gewiesen with Gewissen

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: gewiesen is [ɡəˈviːzn̩] while Gewissen is [ɡəˈvɪsn̩]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - e in “gewiesen” becomes s in “Gewissen”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 41054, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

gewiesen is recorded at frequency rank #39,392, classified as averb, pronounced [ɡəˈviːzn̩]. Gewissen is at rank #1,662, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ɡəˈvɪsn̩].

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 41054, this pair ranks #1,490,691 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of gewiesen vs Gewissen

Shared letters: eginsw. Private to "gewiesen": -. Private to "Gewissen": -.

"gewiesen" · 8 letters · shape CVCVVCVC  ·  "Gewissen" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • gewiesen ← egwiesen · geiwesen · geweisen · gewieesn · gewiesenn · gewiesne · gewiessen · gewiseen
  • Gewissen ← egwissen · geiwssen · gewisen · gewisesn · gewissenn · gewissne · gewißen · gewsisen

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "gewiesen" for "Gewissen" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "gewiesen" is a verb and "Gewissen" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "gewiesen" vs "Gewissen" - which ranks higher?
"Gewissen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,662 in our German list, against #39,392 for "gewiesen". 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 "gewiesen" and "Gewissen" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "gewiesen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Gewissen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,490,691 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "gewiesen" and "Gewissen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "gerieben vs gewiesen". 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 #1,490,691 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