Which to use
“fotografiere” is a verb and “fotografierte” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #49,683
- “fotografiere” frequency rank
- #34,659
- “fotografierte” frequency rank
- 84342
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | fotografiere | fotografierte |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs fotografieren | Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs fotografiert |
Where the eye mixes fotografiere and fotografierte
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 12 letters in sequence. fotografiere runs 12 letters (CVCVCCVCVVCV) against fotografierte's 13 (CVCVCCVCVVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: fotografiere vs fotografierte
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: fotografiere is [fotoɡʁaˈfiːʁə] while fotografierte is [fotoɡʁaˈfiːɐ̯tə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 84342, 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]. fotografierte is at rank #34,659, tagged as anadj, pronounced [fotoɡʁaˈfiːɐ̯tə].
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 84342, this pair ranks #125,302 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of fotografiere vs fotografierte
Shared letters: aefgiort. Private to "fotografiere": -. Private to "fotografierte": -.
"fotografiere" · 12 letters · shape CVCVCCVCVVCV · "fotografierte" · 13 letters · shape CVCVCCVCVVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- fotografiere ← ffotografiere · footgrafiere · fotgorafiere · fotogarfiere · fotoggrafiere · fotografeire · fotograffiere · fotografieer
- fotografierte ← ffotografierte · footgrafierte · fotgorafierte · fotogarfierte · fotoggrafierte · fotografeirte · fotograffierte · fotografieret
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "fotografiere" for "fotografierte" ever safe?
Which is more common, "fotografiere" or "fotografierte"?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "fotografiere" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "fotografierte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #125,302 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "fotografiere" and "fotografierte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Fotografien vs fotografiere". 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 #125,302 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.