BildernvsbildeteTell them apart

Quick tell: Bildern is a noun, bildete is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Bildern” is a noun and “bildete” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#2,811
“Bildern” frequency rank
#5,809
“bildete” frequency rank
8620
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Bildern bildete
Definition Dativ Plural des Substantivs Bild 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs bilden

Where the eye mixes Bildern and bildete

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. Bildern (CVCCVCC) and bildete (CVCCVCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

7 ch
Bildern
7 ch
bildete

Why the eye confuses Bildern with bildete

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Bildern is [ˈbɪldɐn] while bildete is [ˈbɪldətə]. 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 verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 8620, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Bildern is recorded at frequency rank #2,811, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈbɪldɐn]. bildete is at rank #5,809, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈbɪldətə].

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 8620, this pair ranks #1,983,569 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Bildern vs bildete

Shared letters: bdeil. Private to "Bildern": nr. Private to "bildete": t.

"Bildern" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCC  ·  "bildete" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Bildern ← bbildern · bidlern · bilddern · bildenr · bildernn · bilderrn · bildren · biledrn
  • bildete ← bbildete · bidlete · bilddete · bildeet · bildette · bildtee · biledte · billdete

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Bildern" and "bildete" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Bildern" is a noun and "bildete" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "Bildern" or "bildete" show up more?
"Bildern" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,811 in our German list, against #5,809 for "bildete". 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 "Bildern" and "bildete" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Bildern" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "bildete" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,983,569 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Bildern" and "bildete" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ballern vs Bildern". 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 #1,983,569 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