gründetevsgründetenWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#7,924
“gründete” frequency rank
#17,925
“gründeten” frequency rank
25849
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature gründete gründeten
Definition 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs gründen 1. Person Plural Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs gründen

Where the eye mixes gründete and gründeten

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. gründete runs 8 letters (CCVCCVCV) against gründeten's 9 (CCVCCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

8 ch
gründete
9 ch
gründeten

Why the eye confuses gründete with gründeten

A purely visual mix-up. gründete ([ˈɡʁʏndətə]) and gründeten ([ˈɡʁʏndətn̩]) 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) - “gründete” sits inside “gründeten”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 25849, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

gründete is recorded at frequency rank #7,924, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈɡʁʏndətə]. gründeten is at rank #17,925, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈɡʁʏndətn̩].

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 25849, this pair ranks #1,827,092 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of gründete vs gründeten

Shared letters: degnrtü. Private to "gründete": -. Private to "gründeten": -.

"gründete" · 8 letters · shape CCVCCVCV  ·  "gründeten" · 9 letters · shape CCVCCVCVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "gründete" and "gründeten" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈɡʁʏndətə] versus [ˈɡʁʏndətn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "gründete" or "gründeten"?
"gründete" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,924 in our German list, against #17,925 for "gründeten". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "gründete" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "gründeten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,827,092 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "gründete" and "gründeten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "gründeten vs Grundton". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #1,827,092 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