Which to use
“formal” is an adjective and “formte” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #9,903
- “formal” frequency rank
- #38,744
- “formte” frequency rank
- 48647
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | formal | formte |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | der Form (nicht dem Inhalt) nach | 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs formen |
Where the eye mixes formal and formte
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses formal with formte
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: formal is [fɔʁˈmaːl] while formte is [ˈfɔʁmtə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 48647, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
formal is recorded at frequency rank #9,903, classified as anadj, pronounced [fɔʁˈmaːl]. 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 48647, this pair ranks #1,240,795 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of formal vs formte
Shared letters: fmor. Private to "formal": al. Private to "formte": et.
"formal" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "formte" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "formal" for "formte" ever safe?
Frequency check: "formal" vs "formte" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "formal" and "formte" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "formal" 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 #1,240,795 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "formal" 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 #1,240,795 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.