definierevsdefiniertenConfusable pair

Quick tell: definiere is a verb, definierten is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“definiere” is a verb and “definierten” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#32,473
“definiere” frequency rank
#15,599
“definierten” frequency rank
48072
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature definiere definierten
Definition 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs definieren Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs definiert

Where the eye mixes definiere and definierten

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence. definiere runs 9 letters (CVCVCVVCV) against definierten's 11 (CVCVCVVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

9 ch
definiere
11 ch
definierten

Visual trap between definiere and definierten

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: definiere is [defiˈniːʁə] while definierten is [defiˈniːɐ̯tn̩]. 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 (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 48072, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

definiere is recorded at frequency rank #32,473, classified as averb, pronounced [defiˈniːʁə]. definierten is at rank #15,599, tagged as anadj, pronounced [defiˈniːɐ̯tn̩].

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 48072, this pair ranks #1,261,810 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of definiere vs definierten

Shared letters: definr. Private to "definiere": -. Private to "definierten": t.

"definiere" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCVVCV  ·  "definierten" · 11 letters · shape CVCVCVVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • definiereddefiniere · deffiniere · defiinere · defineire · definieer · definierre · definiree · definniere
  • definiertenddefinierten · deffinierten · defiinerten · defineirten · definieretn · definierrten · definiertenn · definiertne

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "definiere" for "definierten" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "definiere" is a verb and "definierten" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "definiere" or "definierten" show up more?
"definierten" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #15,599 in our German list, against #32,473 for "definiere". 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 "definiere" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "definierten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,261,810 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "definiere" and "definierten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "definiere vs definierte". 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 #1,261,810 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