Which to use
“blue” is an adjective and “blühte” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #5,069
- “blue” frequency rank
- #43,068
- “blühte” frequency rank
- 48137
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | blue | blühte |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | blau | 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs blühen |
Where the eye mixes blue and blühte
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between blue and blühte
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: blue is [bluː] while blühte is [ˈblyːtə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 48137, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
blue is recorded at frequency rank #5,069, classified as anadj, pronounced [bluː]. blühte is at rank #43,068, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈblyːtə].
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 48137, this pair ranks #1,259,476 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of blue vs blühte
Shared letters: bel. Private to "blue": u. Private to "blühte": htü.
"blue" · 4 letters · shape CCVV · "blühte" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- blue ← bblue · bllue · bule · lbue
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "blue" and "blühte" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "blue" vs "blühte" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "blue" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "blühte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,259,476 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "blue" and "blühte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "beugte vs blühte". 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 #1,259,476 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.