blühtvsblühteConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#12,681
“blüht” frequency rank
#43,068
“blühte” frequency rank
55749
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature blüht blühte
Definition 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs blühen 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs blühen

Where the eye mixes blüht and blühte

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. blüht runs 5 letters (CCVCC) against blühte's 6 (CCVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

5 ch
blüht
6 ch
blühte

Why the eye confuses blüht with blühte

A purely visual mix-up. blüht ([blyːt]) and blühte ([ˈblyːtə]) 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) - “blüht” sits inside “blühte”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 55749, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

blüht is recorded at frequency rank #12,681, classified as averb, pronounced [blyːt]. 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 55749, this pair ranks #967,331 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of blüht vs blühte

Shared letters: bhltü. Private to "blüht": -. Private to "blühte": e.

"blüht" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC  ·  "blühte" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCV

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "blüht" and "blühte" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([blyːt] versus [ˈblyːtə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "blüht" vs "blühte" - which ranks higher?
"blüht" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #12,681 in our German list, against #43,068 for "blühte". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "blüht" 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 #967,331 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "blüht" and "blühte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "beugte vs blühte". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #967,331 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