Which to use
“führen” and “führte” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #634
- “führen” frequency rank
- #1,291
- “führte” frequency rank
- 1925
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | führen | führte |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | in eine Richtung geleiten, zum Beispiel, indem man nahe neben jemandem geht oder ihn sogar dabei berührt und ihm hilft einen Weg zu finden, den er sonst schwer hätte zu finden | 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs führen |
Where the eye mixes führen and führte
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses führen with führte
A purely visual mix-up. führen ([ˈfyːʁən]) and führte ([ˈfyːɐ̯tə]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 1925, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
führen is recorded at frequency rank #634, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈfyːʁən]. führte is at rank #1,291, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈfyːɐ̯tə].
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 1925, this pair ranks #2,003,456 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of führen vs führte
Shared letters: efhrü. Private to "führen": n. Private to "führte": t.
"führen" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "führte" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCV
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "führen" and "führte" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary German text, does "führen" or "führte" show up more?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "führen" and "führte" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "führen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "führte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #2,003,456 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "führen" and "führte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "führen vs Führerin". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #2,003,456 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.