infizierenvsinfizierteWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: infizieren is a verb, infizierte is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“infizieren” is a verb and “infizierte” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#28,258
“infizieren” frequency rank
#22,772
“infizierte” frequency rank
51030
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature infizieren infizierte
Definition mit einer Substanz oder Erregern in Kontakt bringen, die Krankheiten auslösen können Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs infiziert

Where the eye mixes infizieren and infizierte

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence. infizieren (VCCVCVVCVC) and infizierte (VCCVCVVCCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

10 ch
infizieren
10 ch
infizierte

Visual trap between infizieren and infizierte

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: infizieren is [ɪnfiˈt͡siːʁən] while infizierte is [ɪnfiˈt͡siːɐ̯tə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 51030, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

infizieren is recorded at frequency rank #28,258, classified as averb, pronounced [ɪnfiˈt͡siːʁən]. infizierte is at rank #22,772, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ɪnfiˈt͡siːɐ̯tə].

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 51030, this pair ranks #1,151,192 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of infizieren vs infizierte

Shared letters: efinrz. Private to "infizieren": -. Private to "infizierte": t.

"infizieren" · 10 letters · shape VCCVCVVCVC  ·  "infizierte" · 10 letters · shape VCCVCVVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • infizieren ← ifnizieren · inffizieren · infiizeren · infizeiren · infizieern · infizierenn · infizierne · infizierren
  • infizierte ← ifnizierte · inffizierte · infiizerte · infizeirte · infizieret · infizierrte · infiziertte · infizietre

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "infizieren" for "infizierte" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "infizieren" is a verb and "infizierte" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "infizieren" vs "infizierte" - which ranks higher?
"infizierte" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #22,772 in our German list, against #28,258 for "infizieren". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "infizieren" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "infizierte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,151,192 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "infizieren" and "infizierte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "infizieren vs inspizieren". 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 #1,151,192 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