gefürchtetvsgefürchteteWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#23,142
“gefürchtet” frequency rank
#45,959
“gefürchtete” frequency rank
69101
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature gefürchtet gefürchtete
Definition vor etwas Angst habend Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs gefürchtet

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set gefürchtet and gefürchtete apart are highlighted. They share 10 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

10 ch
gefürchtet
11 ch
gefürchtete

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. gefürchtet ([ɡəˈfʏʁçtət]) and gefürchtete ([ɡəˈfʏʁçtətə]) 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) - “gefürchtet” sits inside “gefürchtete”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 69101, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

gefürchtet is recorded at frequency rank #23,142, classified as anadj, pronounced [ɡəˈfʏʁçtət]. gefürchtete is at rank #45,959, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ɡəˈfʏʁçtətə].

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 69101, this pair ranks #487,027 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of gefürchtet vs gefürchtete

Shared letters: cefghrtü. Private to "gefürchtet": -. Private to "gefürchtete": -.

"gefürchtet" · 10 letters · shape CVCVCCCCVC  ·  "gefürchtete" · 11 letters · shape CVCVCCCCVCV

Frequency comparison

gefürchtet#23,142
gefürchtete#45,959

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "gefürchtet" and "gefürchtete" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ɡəˈfʏʁçtət] versus [ɡəˈfʏʁçtətə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "gefürchtet" or "gefürchtete"?
"gefürchtet" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #23,142 in our German list, against #45,959 for "gefürchtete". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering gefürchtet vs gefürchtete

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “gefürchtet” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list