aufstellenvsaufstellteTell them apart

Which to use

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

#6,152
“aufstellen” frequency rank
#45,136
“aufstellte” frequency rank
51288
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature aufstellen aufstellte
Definition etwas aufrichten 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv der Nebensatzkonjugation des Verbs aufstellen

Where the eye mixes aufstellen and aufstellte

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence. aufstellen (VVCCCVCCVC) and aufstellte (VVCCCVCCCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

10 ch
aufstellen
10 ch
aufstellte

Why the eye confuses aufstellen with aufstellte

A purely visual mix-up. aufstellen ([ˈaʊ̯fˌʃtɛlən]) and aufstellte ([ˈaʊ̯fˌʃtɛltə]) 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 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 51288, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

aufstellen is recorded at frequency rank #6,152, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈaʊ̯fˌʃtɛlən]. aufstellte is at rank #45,136, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈaʊ̯fˌʃtɛltə].

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 51288, this pair ranks #1,141,198 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of aufstellen vs aufstellte

Shared letters: aeflstu. Private to "aufstellen": n. Private to "aufstellte": -.

"aufstellen" · 10 letters · shape VVCCCVCCVC  ·  "aufstellte" · 10 letters · shape VVCCCVCCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • aufstellenafustellen · auffstellen · aufsetllen · aufsstellen · aufsteleln · aufstelen · aufstellenn · aufstellne
  • aufstellteafustellte · auffstellte · aufsetllte · aufsstellte · aufstellet · aufstelltte · aufstelte · aufsteltle

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "aufstellen" and "aufstellte" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈaʊ̯fˌʃtɛlən] versus [ˈaʊ̯fˌʃtɛltə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "aufstellen" or "aufstellte" show up more?
"aufstellen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,152 in our German list, against #45,136 for "aufstellte". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "aufstellen" and "aufstellte" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "aufstellen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "aufstellte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,141,198 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "aufstellen" and "aufstellte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "aufstellte vs ausstellt". 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 #1,141,198 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