auftauchtvsauftauchteWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#10,044
“auftaucht” frequency rank
#22,630
“auftauchte” frequency rank
32674
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature auftaucht auftauchte
Definition 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv der Nebensatzkonjugation des Verbs auftauchen 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv der Nebensatzkonjugation des Verbs auftauchen

Where the eye mixes auftaucht and auftauchte

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence.

9 ch
auftaucht
10 ch
auftauchte

Visual trap between auftaucht and auftauchte

A purely visual mix-up. auftaucht ([ˈaʊ̯fˌtaʊ̯xt]) and auftauchte ([ˈaʊ̯fˌtaʊ̯xtə]) 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 1 extra letter(s) - “auftaucht” sits inside “auftauchte”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 32674, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

auftaucht is recorded at frequency rank #10,044, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈaʊ̯fˌtaʊ̯xt]. auftauchte is at rank #22,630, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈaʊ̯fˌtaʊ̯xtə].

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 32674, this pair ranks #1,702,502 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of auftaucht vs auftauchte

Shared letters: acfhtu. Private to "auftaucht": -. Private to "auftauchte": e.

"auftaucht" · 9 letters · shape VVCCVVCCC  ·  "auftauchte" · 10 letters · shape VVCCVVCCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • auftauchtafutaucht · aufatucht · aufftaucht · auftacuht · auftauccht · auftauchht · auftauchtt · auftaucth
  • auftauchteafutauchte · aufatuchte · aufftauchte · auftacuhte · auftaucchte · auftauchet · auftauchhte · auftauchtte

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "auftaucht" and "auftauchte" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈaʊ̯fˌtaʊ̯xt] versus [ˈaʊ̯fˌtaʊ̯xtə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "auftaucht" or "auftauchte" show up more?
"auftaucht" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,044 in our German list, against #22,630 for "auftauchte". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "auftaucht" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "auftauchte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,702,502 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "auftaucht" and "auftauchte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "auftauchte vs auftauchten". 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 #1,702,502 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