arbeitenvsarbeitetWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#348
“arbeiten” frequency rank
#1,151
“arbeitet” frequency rank
1499
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature arbeiten arbeitet
Definition geistig oder körperlich tätig sein, zielstrebig handeln, um so ein Ergebnis zu erzielen 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs arbeiten

Where the eye mixes arbeiten and arbeitet

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence.

8 ch
arbeiten
8 ch
arbeitet

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. arbeiten ([ˈaʁbaɪ̯tn̩]) and arbeitet ([ˈaʁbaɪ̯tət]) 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 a single letter - n in “arbeiten” becomes t in “arbeitet”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 1499, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

arbeiten is recorded at frequency rank #348, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈaʁbaɪ̯tn̩]. arbeitet is at rank #1,151, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈaʁbaɪ̯tət].

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 1499, this pair ranks #2,004,232 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of arbeiten vs arbeitet

Shared letters: abeirt. Private to "arbeiten": n. Private to "arbeitet": -.

"arbeiten" · 8 letters · shape VCCVVCVC  ·  "arbeitet" · 8 letters · shape VCCVVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • arbeitenabreiten · arbbeiten · arbeietn · arbeitenn · arbeitne · arbeitten · arbetien · arbieten
  • arbeitetabreitet · arbbeitet · arbeiett · arbeitett · arbeitte · arbeittet · arbetiet · arbietet

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "arbeiten" and "arbeitet" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈaʁbaɪ̯tn̩] versus [ˈaʁbaɪ̯tət]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "arbeiten" or "arbeitet"?
"arbeiten" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #348 in our German list, against #1,151 for "arbeitet". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list