branntevsbrenneWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#10,057
“brannte” frequency rank
#41,718
“brenne” frequency rank
51775
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature brannte brenne
Definition 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs brennen 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs brennen

Where the eye mixes brannte and brenne

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. brannte runs 7 letters (CCVCCCV) against brenne's 6 (CCVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

7 ch
brannte
6 ch
brenne

Visual trap between brannte and brenne

A purely visual mix-up. brannte ([ˈbʁantə]) and brenne ([ˈbʁɛnə]) 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 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 51775, 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]. brenne is at rank #41,718, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈbʁɛnə].

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 51775, this pair ranks #1,122,515 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of brannte vs brenne

Shared letters: benr. Private to "brannte": at. Private to "brenne": -.

"brannte" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCCV  ·  "brenne" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • brannte ← barnnte · bbrannte · brannet · branntte · brante · brantne · brnante · brrannte
  • brenne ← bbrenne · bernne · brene · brnene · brrenne · rbenne

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "brannte" and "brenne" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈbʁantə] versus [ˈbʁɛnə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "brannte" vs "brenne" - which ranks higher?
"brannte" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,057 in our German list, against #41,718 for "brenne". 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 "brannte" and "brenne" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "brannte" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "brenne" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,122,515 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "brannte" and "brenne" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "brenne vs Brenz". 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 #1,122,515 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