glätten vs Glatze, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“glätten” is a verb and “Glatze” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#30,588
“glätten” frequency rank: #18,569
“Glatze” frequency rank: 49157
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	glätten	Glatze
Definition	Unebenheit verringern, etwas glatter machen	haarlose Stelle des normalerweise behaarten Teils des Kopfes

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set glätten and Glatze apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch

glätten

6 ch

Glatze

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: glätten is [ˈɡlɛtn̩] while Glatze is [ˈɡlat͡sə]. 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 noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 49157, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

glätten is recorded at frequency rank #30,588, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈɡlɛtn̩]. Glatze is at rank #18,569, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈɡlat͡sə].

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 49157, this pair ranks #1,222,023 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of glätten vs Glatze

Shared letters: eglt. Private to "glätten": nä. Private to "Glatze": az.

"glätten" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC · "Glatze" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

Glatze ← galtze · gglatze · glatez · glattze · glatzze · glazte · gllatze · gltaze

Frequency comparison

glätten#30,588

Glatze#18,569

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "glätten" and "Glatze" be used interchangeably?

No - they are not even the same part of speech. "glätten" is a verb and "Glatze" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.

Which is more common, "glätten" or "Glatze"?

"Glatze" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #18,569 in our German list, against #30,588 for "glätten". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering glätten vs Glatze

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “glätten”; for a noun, it's “Glatze”.
See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “glätten” entry
Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable