artevsartigWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: arte is a verb, artig is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“arte” is a verb and “artig” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#8,333
“arte” frequency rank
#20,505
“artig” frequency rank
28838
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature arte artig
Definition 2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs arten nett, lieb und vernünftig

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set arte and artig apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
arte
5 ch
artig

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: arte is [ˈaːɐ̯tə] while artig is [ˈaːɐ̯tɪç]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 28838, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

arte is recorded at frequency rank #8,333, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈaːɐ̯tə]. artig is at rank #20,505, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈaːɐ̯tɪç].

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 28838, this pair ranks #1,777,682 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of arte vs artig

Shared letters: art. Private to "arte": e. Private to "artig": gi.

"arte" · 4 letters · shape VCCV  ·  "artig" · 5 letters · shape VCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • artearet · arrte · artte · atre
  • artigaritg · arrtig · artgi · artigg · arttig · atrig · ratig

Frequency comparison

arte#8,333
artig#20,505

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "arte" and "artig" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "arte" is a verb and "artig" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "arte" or "artig"?
"arte" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,333 in our German list, against #20,505 for "artig". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering arte vs artig

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “arte”; for an adjective, it's “artig”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “arte” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list