forschtvsforschteWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#21,255
“forscht” frequency rank
#47,398
“forschte” frequency rank
68653
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature forscht forschte
Definition 2. Person Plural Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs forschen 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs forschen

Where the eye mixes forscht and forschte

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence.

7 ch
forscht
8 ch
forschte

Look-alike desk: forscht vs forschte

A purely visual mix-up. forscht ([fɔʁʃt]) and forschte ([ˈfɔʁʃtə]) 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 extra letter(s) - “forscht” sits inside “forschte”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 68653, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

forscht is recorded at frequency rank #21,255, classified as averb, pronounced [fɔʁʃt]. forschte is at rank #47,398, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈfɔʁʃtə].

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 68653, this pair ranks #501,130 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of forscht vs forschte

Shared letters: cfhorst. Private to "forscht": -. Private to "forschte": e.

"forscht" · 7 letters · shape CVCCCCC  ·  "forschte" · 8 letters · shape CVCCCCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • forschtfforscht · forcsht · forrscht · forsccht · forschht · forschtt · forscth · forshct
  • forschtefforschte · forcshte · forrschte · forscchte · forschet · forschhte · forschtte · forscthe

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "forscht" and "forschte" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([fɔʁʃt] versus [ˈfɔʁʃtə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "forscht" or "forschte"?
"forscht" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #21,255 in our German list, against #47,398 for "forschte". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Eye-level mix-up between "forscht" and "forschte" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "forscht" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "forschte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #501,130 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "forscht" and "forschte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "forsch vs forschte". 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 #501,130 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