heiratenvsheiratetenConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#4,276
“heiraten” frequency rank
#31,605
“heirateten” frequency rank
35881
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature heiraten heirateten
Definition den Bund der Ehe eingehen 1. Person Plural Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs heiraten

Where the eye mixes heiraten and heirateten

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. heiraten runs 8 letters (CVVCVCVC) against heirateten's 10 (CVVCVCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

8 ch
heiraten
10 ch
heirateten

Why the eye confuses heiraten with heirateten

A purely visual mix-up. heiraten ([ˈhaɪ̯ʁaːtn̩]) and heirateten ([ˈhaɪ̯ʁaːtətn̩]) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 35881, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

heiraten is recorded at frequency rank #4,276, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈhaɪ̯ʁaːtn̩]. heirateten is at rank #31,605, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈhaɪ̯ʁaːtətn̩].

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 35881, this pair ranks #1,629,265 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of heiraten vs heirateten

Shared letters: aehinrt. Private to "heiraten": -. Private to "heirateten": -.

"heiraten" · 8 letters · shape CVVCVCVC  ·  "heirateten" · 10 letters · shape CVVCVCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • heiratenehiraten · heiarten · heiraetn · heiratenn · heiratne · heiratten · heirraten · heirtaen
  • heiratetenehirateten · heiarteten · heiraetten · heirateetn · heiratetenn · heiratetne · heiratetten · heiratteen

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "heiraten" and "heirateten" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈhaɪ̯ʁaːtn̩] versus [ˈhaɪ̯ʁaːtətn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "heiraten" or "heirateten"?
"heiraten" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,276 in our German list, against #31,605 for "heirateten". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Eye-level mix-up between "heiraten" and "heirateten" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "heiraten" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "heirateten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,629,265 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "heiraten" and "heirateten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "heiratet vs heirateten". 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 #1,629,265 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