Which to use
“irre” is an adjective and “irrt” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #4,524
- “irre” frequency rank
- #20,308
- “irrt” frequency rank
- 24832
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | irre | irrt |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | an einer Störung oder Fehlleistung des Geistes- und Seelenlebens (= Geisteskrankheit) leidend | 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs irren |
Where the eye mixes irre and irrt
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between irre and irrt
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: irre is [ˈɪʁə] while irrt is [ɪʁt]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - e in “irre” becomes t in “irrt”, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 24832, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
irre is recorded at frequency rank #4,524, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈɪʁə]. irrt is at rank #20,308, tagged as averb, pronounced [ɪʁt].
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 24832, this pair ranks #1,842,051 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of irre vs irrt
Shared letters: ir. Private to "irre": e. Private to "irrt": t.
"irre" · 4 letters · shape VCCV · "irrt" · 4 letters · shape VCCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "irre" for "irrt" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "irre" or "irrt" show up more?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "irre" and "irrt" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "irre" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "irrt" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,842,051 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "irre" and "irrt" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "irrt vs irrte". 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 #1,842,051 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.