gestern
[ˈɡɛstɐn]
The verdict
“gestern” is in the everyday core of German, ranked #617 in German word frequency and used as an adverb.
- #617
- frequency rank, German
- 7
- letters
- 11
- tracked misspellings
- 18
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - am Tag unmittelbar vor dem heutigen Tag
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | gestern |
| Language | German |
| Part of speech | Adverb |
| IPA | [ˈɡɛstɐn] |
| Letters | 7 |
| Frequency rank | #617 |
| Misspellings tracked | 11 |
| Confusable pairs | 18 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “gestern” sits in German frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The German entry for gestern is 7 letters long, classified as an adverb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as [ˈɡɛstɐn]. Corpus data places it at rank #617 in overall German word frequency, putting it firmly in the everyday core of the language. Wiktionary records 2 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 11 likely wrong-spelling variants for gestern, with forms such as "egstern", "gesetrn", and "gesstern". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 18 confusable-pair relationships, "Gütern", "gestört", "Göttern", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.
This headword's origin isn't recorded in our source data, so its spelling is easiest explained by how it's pronounced rather than where it came from. The correct German form is gestern, spelled G-E-S-T-E-R-N.
Definition
- 1am Tag unmittelbar vor dem heutigen Tag
- 2vor (nicht allzu) langer Zeit
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: egstern,gesetrn,gesstern,gestenr,gesternn,gesterrn,gestren,gesttern,getsern,ggestern,gsetern
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of gestern - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 German corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you spell "gestern"?
What does "gestern" mean?
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Is PlainSpell free to use?
Using “gestern”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct German spelling is G-E-S-T-E-R-N - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as [ˈɡɛstɐn] (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “Gütern” - see the side-by-side comparison. gestern vs Gütern
- Browse more German words and confusable pairs in the same reference. German words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.