Which to use
“Arbeitern” is a noun and “arbeitete” is an unknown - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #14,005
- “Arbeitern” frequency rank
- #3,424
- “arbeitete” frequency rank
- 17429
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Arbeitern | arbeitete |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Dativ Plural des Substantivs Arbeiter | 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv von arbeiten |
Where the eye mixes Arbeitern and arbeitete
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. Arbeitern (VCCVVCVCC) and arbeitete (VCCVVCVCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Look-alike desk: Arbeitern vs arbeitete
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Arbeitern is [ˈaʁbaɪ̯tɐn] while arbeitete is [ˈaʁbaɪ̯tətə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs unknown), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 17429, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Arbeitern is recorded at frequency rank #14,005, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈaʁbaɪ̯tɐn]. arbeitete is at rank #3,424, tagged as anunknown, pronounced [ˈaʁbaɪ̯tətə].
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 17429, this pair ranks #1,927,476 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of Arbeitern vs arbeitete
Shared letters: abeirt. Private to "Arbeitern": n. Private to "arbeitete": -.
"Arbeitern" · 9 letters · shape VCCVVCVCC · "arbeitete" · 9 letters · shape VCCVVCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "Arbeitern" for "arbeitete" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "Arbeitern" or "arbeitete" show up more?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "Arbeitern" and "arbeitete" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "Arbeitern" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "arbeitete" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,927,476 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Arbeitern" and "arbeitete" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Arbeitern vs Arbeiters". 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 #1,927,476 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.