gezieltvsgezieltenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#4,352
“gezielt” frequency rank
#17,920
“gezielten” frequency rank
22272
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature gezielt gezielten
Definition auf ein Ziel ausgerichtet Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs gezielt

Where the eye mixes gezielt and gezielten

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. gezielt runs 7 letters (CVCVVCC) against gezielten's 9 (CVCVVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

7 ch
gezielt
9 ch
gezielten

Look-alike desk: gezielt vs gezielten

A purely visual mix-up. gezielt ([ɡəˈt͡siːlt]) and gezielten ([ɡəˈt͡siːltn̩]) 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 2 extra letter(s) - “gezielt” sits inside “gezielten”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 22272, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

gezielt is recorded at frequency rank #4,352, classified as anadj, pronounced [ɡəˈt͡siːlt]. gezielten is at rank #17,920, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ɡəˈt͡siːltn̩].

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 22272, this pair ranks #1,876,209 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of gezielt vs gezielten

Shared letters: egiltz. Private to "gezielt": -. Private to "gezielten": n.

"gezielt" · 7 letters · shape CVCVVCC  ·  "gezielten" · 9 letters · shape CVCVVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • gezieltegzielt · geizelt · gezeilt · geziellt · gezieltt · gezietl · gezilet · gezzielt
  • gezieltenegzielten · geizelten · gezeilten · gezieletn · geziellten · gezieltenn · gezieltne · gezieltten

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "gezielt" and "gezielten" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ɡəˈt͡siːlt] versus [ɡəˈt͡siːltn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "gezielt" or "gezielten"?
"gezielt" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,352 in our German list, against #17,920 for "gezielten". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "gezielt" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "gezielten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,876,209 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "gezielt" and "gezielten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "gezielten vs gezieltes". 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 #1,876,209 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