heiratetvsheirateteTell them apart

Which to use

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

#14,587
“heiratet” frequency rank
#12,093
“heiratete” frequency rank
26680
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature heiratet heiratete
Definition 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs heiraten 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs heiraten

Where the eye mixes heiratet and heiratete

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

8 ch
heiratet
9 ch
heiratete

Look-alike desk: heiratet vs heiratete

A purely visual mix-up. heiratet ([ˈhaɪ̯ʁaːtət]) and heiratete ([ˈhaɪ̯ʁaːtətə]) 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) - “heiratet” sits inside “heiratete”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 26680, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

heiratet is recorded at frequency rank #14,587, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈhaɪ̯ʁaːtət]. heiratete is at rank #12,093, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈhaɪ̯ʁaːtətə].

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 26680, this pair ranks #1,814,183 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of heiratet vs heiratete

Shared letters: aehirt. Private to "heiratet": -. Private to "heiratete": -.

"heiratet" · 8 letters · shape CVVCVCVC  ·  "heiratete" · 9 letters · shape CVVCVCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • heiratetehiratet · heiartet · heiraett · heiratett · heiratte · heirattet · heirratet · heirtaet
  • heirateteehiratete · heiartete · heiraette · heirateet · heiratette · heirattee · heirattete · heirratete

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "heiratet" and "heiratete" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈhaɪ̯ʁaːtət] versus [ˈhaɪ̯ʁaːtətə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "heiratet" or "heiratete" show up more?
"heiratete" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #12,093 in our German list, against #14,587 for "heiratet". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "heiratet" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "heiratete" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,814,183 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "heiratet" and "heiratete" 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 #1,814,183 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