agierenvsagiertWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#8,019
“agieren” frequency rank
#11,584
“agiert” frequency rank
19603
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature agieren agiert
Definition etwas betreiben, tun 2. Person Plural Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs agieren

Where the eye mixes agieren and agiert

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. agieren runs 7 letters (VCVVCVC) against agiert's 6 (VCVVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

7 ch
agieren
6 ch
agiert

Why the eye confuses agieren with agiert

A purely visual mix-up. agieren ([aˈɡiːʁən]) and agiert ([aˈɡiːɐ̯t]) 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 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 19603, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

agieren is recorded at frequency rank #8,019, classified as averb, pronounced [aˈɡiːʁən]. agiert is at rank #11,584, tagged as averb, pronounced [aˈɡiːɐ̯t].

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 19603, this pair ranks #1,906,593 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of agieren vs agiert

Shared letters: aegir. Private to "agieren": n. Private to "agiert": t.

"agieren" · 7 letters · shape VCVVCVC  ·  "agiert" · 6 letters · shape VCVVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • agieren ← ageiren · aggieren · agieern · agierenn · agierne · agierren · agireen · aigeren
  • agiert ← ageirt · aggiert · agierrt · agiertt · agietr · agiret · aigert · gaiert

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "agieren" and "agiert" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([aˈɡiːʁən] versus [aˈɡiːɐ̯t]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "agieren" vs "agiert" - which ranks higher?
"agieren" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,019 in our German list, against #11,584 for "agiert". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "agieren" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "agiert" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,906,593 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "agieren" and "agiert" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "agiert vs altert". 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 #1,906,593 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