folgtevsformteWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#2,650
“folgte” frequency rank
#38,744
“formte” frequency rank
41394
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature folgte formte
Definition 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs folgen 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs formen

Where the eye mixes folgte and formte

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

6 ch
folgte
6 ch
formte

Look-alike desk: folgte vs formte

A purely visual mix-up. folgte ([ˈfɔlktə]) and formte ([ˈfɔʁmtə]) 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 41394, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

folgte is recorded at frequency rank #2,650, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈfɔlktə]. formte is at rank #38,744, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈfɔʁmtə].

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 41394, this pair ranks #1,480,781 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of folgte vs formte

Shared letters: efot. Private to "folgte": gl. Private to "formte": mr.

"folgte" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCV  ·  "formte" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • folgteffolgte · flogte · foglte · folget · folggte · folgtte · follgte · foltge
  • formtefformte · fomrte · formet · formmte · formtte · forrmte · fortme · fromte

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "folgte" and "formte" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈfɔlktə] versus [ˈfɔʁmtə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "folgte" or "formte"?
"folgte" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,650 in our German list, against #38,744 for "formte". 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 "folgte" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "formte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,480,781 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "folgte" and "formte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "filmte vs formte". 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 #1,480,781 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