Which to use
“glätten” and “glaubten” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #30,588
- “glätten” frequency rank
- #13,384
- “glaubten” frequency rank
- 43972
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | glätten | glaubten |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Unebenheit verringern, etwas glatter machen | 1. Person Plural Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs glauben |
Where the eye mixes glätten and glaubten
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: glätten vs glaubten
A purely visual mix-up. glätten ([ˈɡlɛtn̩]) and glaubten ([ˈɡlaʊ̯ptn̩]) 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 43972, 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]. glaubten is at rank #13,384, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈɡlaʊ̯ptn̩].
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 43972, this pair ranks #1,401,171 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of glätten vs glaubten
Shared letters: eglnt. Private to "glätten": ä. Private to "glaubten": abu.
"glätten" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC · "glaubten" · 8 letters · shape CCVVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- glaubten ← galubten · gglaubten · glabuten · glaubbten · glaubetn · glaubtenn · glaubtne · glaubtten
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "glätten" and "glaubten" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "glätten" or "glaubten"?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "glätten" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "glaubten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,401,171 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "glätten" and "glaubten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "glänzten vs glätten". 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 #1,401,171 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.