filmtevsfolgteTell them apart

Which to use

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

#45,928
“filmte” frequency rank
#2,650
“folgte” frequency rank
48578
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature filmte folgte
Definition 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs filmen 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs folgen

Where the eye mixes filmte and folgte

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. filmte and folgte follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

6 ch
filmte
6 ch
folgte

Look-alike desk: filmte vs folgte

A purely visual mix-up. filmte ([ˈfɪlmtə]) and folgte ([ˈfɔlktə]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 48578, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

filmte is recorded at frequency rank #45,928, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈfɪlmtə]. folgte is at rank #2,650, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈfɔlktə].

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 48578, this pair ranks #1,243,304 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of filmte vs folgte

Shared letters: eflt. Private to "filmte": im. Private to "folgte": go.

"filmte" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCV  ·  "folgte" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • filmte ← ffilmte · fillmte · filmet · filmmte · filmtte · filtme · fimlte · flimte
  • folgte ← ffolgte · flogte · foglte · folget · folggte · folgtte · follgte · foltge

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "filmte" for "folgte" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈfɪlmtə] versus [ˈfɔlktə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "filmte" or "folgte"?
"folgte" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,650 in our German list, against #45,928 for "filmte". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "filmte" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "folgte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,243,304 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "filmte" and "folgte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Filet vs filmte". 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 #1,243,304 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