fordertvsforgetWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#1,883
“fordert” frequency rank
#39,935
“forget” frequency rank
41818
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature fordert forget
Definition Imperativ Plural (ihr) des Verbs fordern vergessen

Where the eye mixes fordert and forget

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

7 ch
fordert
6 ch
forget

Why the eye confuses fordert with forget

A purely visual mix-up. fordert ([ˈfɔʁdɐt]) and forget ([fəˈɡɛt]) 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 41818, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

fordert is recorded at frequency rank #1,883, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈfɔʁdɐt]. forget is at rank #39,935, tagged as averb, pronounced [fəˈɡɛt].

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 41818, this pair ranks #1,468,144 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of fordert vs forget

Shared letters: efort. Private to "fordert": d. Private to "forget": g.

"fordert" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCC  ·  "forget" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • fordertffordert · fodrert · forddert · forderrt · fordertt · fordetr · fordret · foredrt
  • forgetfforget · fogret · foregt · forgett · forgget · forgte · forrget · froget

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "fordert" for "forget" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈfɔʁdɐt] versus [fəˈɡɛt]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "fordert" or "forget" show up more?
"fordert" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,883 in our German list, against #39,935 for "forget". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "fordert" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "forget" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,468,144 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "fordert" and "forget" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "forces vs forget". 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 #1,468,144 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