ArbeitersvsarbeiteteConfusable pair

Quick tell: Arbeiters is a noun, arbeitete is an unknown, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Arbeiters” is a noun and “arbeitete” is an unknown - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#48,713
“Arbeiters” frequency rank
#3,424
“arbeitete” frequency rank
52137
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Arbeiters arbeitete
Definition Genitiv Singular des Substantivs Arbeiter 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv von arbeiten

Where the eye mixes Arbeiters and arbeitete

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. Arbeiters (VCCVVCVCC) and arbeitete (VCCVVCVCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

9 ch
Arbeiters
9 ch
arbeitete

Visual trap between Arbeiters and arbeitete

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Arbeiters is [ˈaʁbaɪ̯tɐs] 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 52137, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Arbeiters is recorded at frequency rank #48,713, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈaʁbaɪ̯tɐs]. 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 52137, this pair ranks #1,108,607 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Arbeiters vs arbeitete

Shared letters: abeirt. Private to "Arbeiters": s. Private to "arbeitete": -.

"Arbeiters" · 9 letters · shape VCCVVCVCC  ·  "arbeitete" · 9 letters · shape VCCVVCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Arbeiters ← abreiters · arbbeiters · arbeietrs · arbeiterrs · arbeiterss · arbeitesr · arbeitres · arbeitters
  • arbeitete ← abreitete · arbbeitete · arbeiette · arbeiteet · arbeitette · arbeittee · arbeittete · arbetiete

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Arbeiters" for "arbeitete" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Arbeiters" is a noun and "arbeitete" an unknown, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "Arbeiters" or "arbeitete" show up more?
"arbeitete" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,424 in our German list, against #48,713 for "Arbeiters". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Useful next steps

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Arbeiters" 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 #1,108,607 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Arbeiters" 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 #1,108,607 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