agiertevsänderteTell them apart

Which to use

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

#21,871
“agierte” frequency rank
#8,815
“änderte” frequency rank
30686
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature agierte änderte
Definition 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs agieren 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs ändern

Where the eye mixes agierte and änderte

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. agierte (VCVVCCV) and änderte (VCCVCCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

7 ch
agierte
7 ch
änderte

Look-alike desk: agierte vs änderte

A purely visual mix-up. agierte ([aˈɡiːɐ̯tə]) and änderte ([ˈɛndɐtə]) 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 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 30686, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

agierte is recorded at frequency rank #21,871, classified as averb, pronounced [aˈɡiːɐ̯tə]. änderte is at rank #8,815, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈɛndɐtə].

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 30686, this pair ranks #1,743,014 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of agierte vs änderte

Shared letters: ert. Private to "agierte": agi. Private to "änderte": dnä.

"agierte" · 7 letters · shape VCVVCCV  ·  "änderte" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • agierte ← ageirte · aggierte · agieret · agierrte · agiertte · agietre · agirete · aigerte

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "agierte" and "änderte" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([aˈɡiːɐ̯tə] versus [ˈɛndɐtə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "agierte" or "änderte" show up more?
"änderte" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,815 in our German list, against #21,871 for "agierte". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "agierte" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "änderte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,743,014 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "agierte" and "änderte" 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 #1,743,014 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