feiernvsfeierteWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#1,476
“feiern” frequency rank
#6,058
“feierte” frequency rank
7534
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature feiern feierte
Definition an einem Fest oder einer Party teilnehmen oder sie selbst veranstalten 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs feiern

Where the eye mixes feiern and feierte

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.

6 ch
feiern
7 ch
feierte

Why the eye confuses feiern with feierte

A purely visual mix-up. feiern ([ˈfaɪ̯ɐn]) and feierte ([ˈfaɪ̯ɐtə]) 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 7534, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

feiern is recorded at frequency rank #1,476, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈfaɪ̯ɐn]. feierte is at rank #6,058, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈfaɪ̯ɐtə].

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 7534, this pair ranks #1,987,813 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of feiern vs feierte

Shared letters: efir. Private to "feiern": n. Private to "feierte": t.

"feiern" · 6 letters · shape CVVVCC  ·  "feierte" · 7 letters · shape CVVVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • feiernefiern · feeirn · feienr · feiernn · feierrn · feiren · ffeiern · fieern
  • feierteefierte · feeirte · feieret · feierrte · feiertte · feietre · feirete · ffeierte

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "feiern" and "feierte" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈfaɪ̯ɐn] versus [ˈfaɪ̯ɐtə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "feiern" or "feierte"?
"feiern" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,476 in our German list, against #6,058 for "feierte". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "feiern" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "feierte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,987,813 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "feiern" and "feierte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "feierte vs friere". 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 #1,987,813 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