Which to use
“fürchten” and “fürchtete” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #5,172
- “fürchten” frequency rank
- #20,260
- “fürchtete” frequency rank
- 25432
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | fürchten | fürchtete |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | etwas fürchten: vor etwas Angst (Furcht) haben | 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs fürchten |
Where the eye mixes fürchten and fürchtete
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. fürchten runs 8 letters (CVCCCCVC) against fürchtete's 9 (CVCCCCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses fürchten with fürchtete
A purely visual mix-up. fürchten ([ˈfʏʁçtn̩]) and fürchtete ([ˈfʏʁçtətə]) 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 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 25432, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
fürchten is recorded at frequency rank #5,172, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈfʏʁçtn̩]. fürchtete is at rank #20,260, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈfʏʁçtətə].
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 25432, this pair ranks #1,833,377 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of fürchten vs fürchtete
Shared letters: cefhrtü. Private to "fürchten": n. Private to "fürchtete": -.
"fürchten" · 8 letters · shape CVCCCCVC · "fürchtete" · 9 letters · shape CVCCCCVCV
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "fürchten" and "fürchtete" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "fürchten" or "fürchtete" show up more?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "fürchten" and "fürchtete" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "fürchten" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "fürchtete" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,833,377 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "fürchten" and "fürchtete" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "fürchtete vs fürchteten". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #1,833,377 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.