gewünschtvsgewünschteWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#4,122
“gewünscht” frequency rank
#9,731
“gewünschte” frequency rank
13853
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature gewünscht gewünschte
Definition erhofft oder beabsichtigt Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs gewünscht

Where the eye mixes gewünscht and gewünschte

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence. gewünscht runs 9 letters (CVCVCCCCC) against gewünschte's 10 (CVCVCCCCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

9 ch
gewünscht
10 ch
gewünschte

Visual trap between gewünscht and gewünschte

A purely visual mix-up. gewünscht ([ɡəˈvʏnʃt]) and gewünschte ([ɡəˈvʏnʃtə]) 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 extra letter(s) - “gewünscht” sits inside “gewünschte”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 13853, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

gewünscht is recorded at frequency rank #4,122, classified as anadj, pronounced [ɡəˈvʏnʃt]. gewünschte is at rank #9,731, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ɡəˈvʏnʃtə].

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 13853, this pair ranks #1,955,233 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of gewünscht vs gewünschte

Shared letters: ceghnstwü. Private to "gewünscht": -. Private to "gewünschte": -.

"gewünscht" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCCCCC  ·  "gewünschte" · 10 letters · shape CVCVCCCCCV

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "gewünscht" and "gewünschte" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ɡəˈvʏnʃt] versus [ɡəˈvʏnʃtə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "gewünscht" vs "gewünschte" - which ranks higher?
"gewünscht" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,122 in our German list, against #9,731 for "gewünschte". 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 "gewünscht" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "gewünschte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,955,233 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "gewünscht" and "gewünschte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "gelutscht vs gewünscht". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #1,955,233 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