Which to use
“brannte” and “brannten” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #10,057
- “brannte” frequency rank
- #23,066
- “brannten” frequency rank
- 33123
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | brannte | brannten |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs brennen | 1. Person Plural Indikativ Präteritum des Verbs brennen |
Where the eye mixes brannte and brannten
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. brannte runs 7 letters (CCVCCCV) against brannten's 8 (CCVCCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses brannte with brannten
A purely visual mix-up. brannte ([ˈbʁantə]) and brannten ([ˈbʁantn̩]) 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) - “brannte” sits inside “brannten”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 33123, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
brannte is recorded at frequency rank #10,057, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈbʁantə]. brannten is at rank #23,066, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈbʁantn̩].
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 33123, this pair ranks #1,692,802 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of brannte vs brannten
Shared letters: abenrt. Private to "brannte": -. Private to "brannten": -.
"brannte" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCCV · "brannten" · 8 letters · shape CCVCCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "brannte" for "brannten" ever safe?
Frequency check: "brannte" vs "brannten" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "brannte" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "brannten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,692,802 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "brannte" and "brannten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "brannte vs Bräute". 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 #1,692,802 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.