fotografierevsfotografierenTell them apart

Which to use

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

#49,683
“fotografiere” frequency rank
#7,917
“fotografieren” frequency rank
57600
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature fotografiere fotografieren
Definition 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs fotografieren ein Foto machen

Where the eye mixes fotografiere and fotografieren

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 12 letters in sequence. fotografiere runs 12 letters (CVCVCCVCVVCV) against fotografieren's 13 (CVCVCCVCVVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

12 ch
fotografiere
13 ch
fotografieren

Look-alike desk: fotografiere vs fotografieren

A purely visual mix-up. fotografiere ([fotoɡʁaˈfiːʁə]) and fotografieren ([fotoɡʁaˈfiːʁən]) 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) - “fotografiere” sits inside “fotografieren”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 57600, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

fotografiere is recorded at frequency rank #49,683, classified as averb, pronounced [fotoɡʁaˈfiːʁə]. fotografieren is at rank #7,917, tagged as averb, pronounced [fotoɡʁaˈfiːʁən].

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 57600, this pair ranks #895,153 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of fotografiere vs fotografieren

Shared letters: aefgiort. Private to "fotografiere": -. Private to "fotografieren": n.

"fotografiere" · 12 letters · shape CVCVCCVCVVCV  ·  "fotografieren" · 13 letters · shape CVCVCCVCVVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • fotografiere ← ffotografiere · footgrafiere · fotgorafiere · fotogarfiere · fotoggrafiere · fotografeire · fotograffiere · fotografieer
  • fotografieren ← ffotografieren · footgrafieren · fotgorafieren · fotogarfieren · fotoggrafieren · fotografeiren · fotograffieren · fotografieern

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "fotografiere" and "fotografieren" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([fotoɡʁaˈfiːʁə] versus [fotoɡʁaˈfiːʁən]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "fotografiere" or "fotografieren"?
"fotografieren" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,917 in our German list, against #49,683 for "fotografiere". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "fotografiere" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "fotografieren" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #895,153 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "fotografiere" and "fotografieren" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "fotografiere vs fotografierte". 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 #895,153 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