Which to use
“glauben” and “glaubte” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #659
- “glauben” frequency rank
- #6,543
- “glaubte” frequency rank
- 7202
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | glauben | glaubte |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | religiös sein, an einen oder mehrere Götter glauben; in seinem Glauben überzeugt sein | 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs glauben |
Where the eye mixes glauben and glaubte
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. glauben (CCVVCVC) and glaubte (CCVVCCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Look-alike desk: glauben vs glaubte
A purely visual mix-up. glauben ([ˈɡlaʊ̯bn̩]) and glaubte ([ˈɡlaʊ̯ptə]) 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 7202, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
glauben is recorded at frequency rank #659, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈɡlaʊ̯bn̩]. glaubte is at rank #6,543, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈɡlaʊ̯ptə].
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 7202, this pair ranks #1,989,030 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of glauben vs glaubte
Shared letters: abeglu. Private to "glauben": n. Private to "glaubte": t.
"glauben" · 7 letters · shape CCVVCVC · "glaubte" · 7 letters · shape CCVVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "glauben" and "glaubte" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "glauben" vs "glaubte" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "glauben" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "glaubte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,989,030 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "glauben" and "glaubte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Glätte vs glaubte". 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 #1,989,030 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.