Which to use
“agieren” and “agierte” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #8,019
- “agieren” frequency rank
- #21,871
- “agierte” frequency rank
- 29890
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | agieren | agierte |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | etwas betreiben, tun | 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs agieren |
Where the eye mixes agieren and agierte
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. agieren (VCVVCVC) and agierte (VCVVCCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Visual trap between agieren and agierte
A purely visual mix-up. agieren ([aˈɡiːʁən]) and agierte ([aˈɡiːɐ̯tə]) 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 29890, 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]. agierte is at rank #21,871, tagged as averb, pronounced [aˈɡiːɐ̯tə].
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 29890, this pair ranks #1,758,321 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of agieren vs agierte
Shared letters: aegir. Private to "agieren": n. Private to "agierte": t.
"agieren" · 7 letters · shape VCVVCVC · "agierte" · 7 letters · shape VCVVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "agieren" and "agierte" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "agieren" vs "agierte" - which ranks higher?
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 "agieren" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "agierte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,758,321 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "agieren" and "agierte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "agierte vs agierten". 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 #1,758,321 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.