giftigvsgültigWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#17,599
“giftig” frequency rank
#6,432
“gültig” frequency rank
24031
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature giftig gültig
Definition gesundheitsschädlich, schadstoffhaltig Geltung besitzend

Where the eye mixes giftig and gültig

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. giftig and gültig follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

6 ch
giftig
6 ch
gültig

Look-alike desk: giftig vs gültig

A purely visual mix-up. giftig ([ˈɡɪftɪç]) and gültig ([ˈɡʏltɪç]) 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 24031, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

giftig is recorded at frequency rank #17,599, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈɡɪftɪç]. gültig is at rank #6,432, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈɡʏltɪç].

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 24031, this pair ranks #1,853,263 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of giftig vs gültig

Shared letters: git. Private to "giftig": f. Private to "gültig": lü.

"giftig" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "gültig" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • giftig ← gfitig · ggiftig · gifftig · gifitg · giftgi · giftigg · gifttig · gitfig

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "giftig" and "gültig" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈɡɪftɪç] versus [ˈɡʏltɪç]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "giftig" vs "gültig" - which ranks higher?
"gültig" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,432 in our German list, against #17,599 for "giftig". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "giftig" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "gültig" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,853,263 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "giftig" and "gültig" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "giftig vs giftiger". 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 #1,853,263 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