GlättevsGrotteTell them apart

Which to use

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

#43,226
“Glätte” frequency rank
#32,070
“Grotte” frequency rank
75296
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Glätte Grotte
Definition ebenmäßige Beschaffenheit, das Nichtvorhandensein von Unebenheiten Höhle, die nur eine relativ kurze Strecke in den Felsen reicht, oftmals auch eine künstlich angelegte Höhle

Where the eye mixes Glätte and Grotte

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. Glätte and Grotte follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CCVCCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

6 ch
Glätte
6 ch
Grotte

Look-alike desk: Glätte vs Grotte

A purely visual mix-up. Glätte ([ˈɡlɛtə]) and Grotte ([ˈɡʁɔtə]) 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 75296, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Glätte is recorded at frequency rank #43,226, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈɡlɛtə]. Grotte is at rank #32,070, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈɡʁɔtə].

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 75296, this pair ranks #311,537 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of Glätte vs Grotte

Shared letters: egt. Private to "Glätte": lä. Private to "Grotte": or.

"Glätte" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCV  ·  "Grotte" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Grotte ← ggrotte · gortte · grote · grotet · grrotte · grtote · rgotte

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Glätte" and "Grotte" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈɡlɛtə] versus [ˈɡʁɔtə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "Glätte" or "Grotte" show up more?
"Grotte" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #32,070 in our German list, against #43,226 for "Glätte". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Glätte" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Grotte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #311,537 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Glätte" and "Grotte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Glätte vs Glatteis". 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 #311,537 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