ablehntvsablehnteTell them apart

Which to use

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

#16,893
“ablehnt” frequency rank
#27,594
“ablehnte” frequency rank
44487
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ablehnt ablehnte
Definition 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv der Nebensatzkonjugation des Verbs ablehnen 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv der Nebensatzkonjugation des Verbs ablehnen

Where the eye mixes ablehnt and ablehnte

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. ablehnt runs 7 letters (VCCVCCC) against ablehnte's 8 (VCCVCCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

7 ch
ablehnt
8 ch
ablehnte

Visual trap between ablehnt and ablehnte

A purely visual mix-up. ablehnt ([ˈapˌleːnt]) and ablehnte ([ˈapˌleːntə]) 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) - “ablehnt” sits inside “ablehnte”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 44487, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ablehnt is recorded at frequency rank #16,893, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈapˌleːnt]. ablehnte is at rank #27,594, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈapˌleːntə].

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 44487, this pair ranks #1,384,655 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of ablehnt vs ablehnte

Shared letters: abehlnt. Private to "ablehnt": -. Private to "ablehnte": -.

"ablehnt" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCCC  ·  "ablehnte" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • ablehnt ← abblehnt · abelhnt · ablehhnt · ablehnnt · ablehntt · ablehtn · ablenht · ablhent
  • ablehnte ← abblehnte · abelhnte · ablehhnte · ablehnet · ablehnnte · ablehntte · ablehtne · ablenhte

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "ablehnt" and "ablehnte" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈapˌleːnt] versus [ˈapˌleːntə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "ablehnt" or "ablehnte" show up more?
"ablehnt" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #16,893 in our German list, against #27,594 for "ablehnte". 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 "ablehnt" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "ablehnte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,384,655 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "ablehnt" and "ablehnte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ablehnte vs ablehnten". 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 #1,384,655 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