Which to use
“Benutzer” is a noun and “benutzte” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #7,727
- “Benutzer” frequency rank
- #9,512
- “benutzte” frequency rank
- 17239
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Benutzer | benutzte |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Person, die etwas verwendet, gebraucht | Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs benutzt |
Where the eye mixes Benutzer and benutzte
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. Benutzer (CVCVCCVC) and benutzte (CVCVCCCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Why the eye confuses Benutzer with benutzte
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Benutzer is [bəˈnʊt͡sɐ] while benutzte is [bəˈnʊt͡stə]. 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 adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 17239, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Benutzer is recorded at frequency rank #7,727, classified as anoun, pronounced [bəˈnʊt͡sɐ]. benutzte is at rank #9,512, tagged as anadj, pronounced [bəˈnʊt͡stə].
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 17239, this pair ranks #1,929,146 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of Benutzer vs benutzte
Shared letters: bentuz. Private to "Benutzer": r. Private to "benutzte": -.
"Benutzer" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC · "benutzte" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "Benutzer" for "benutzte" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "Benutzer" or "benutzte" show up more?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "Benutzer" and "benutzte" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "Benutzer" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "benutzte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,929,146 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Benutzer" and "benutzte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "benutzbar vs Benutzer". 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 #1,929,146 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.