Which to use
“irre” is an adjective and “irrte” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #4,524
- “irre” frequency rank
- #46,755
- “irrte” frequency rank
- 51279
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | irre | irrte |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | an einer Störung oder Fehlleistung des Geistes- und Seelenlebens (= Geisteskrankheit) leidend | 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs irren |
Where the eye mixes irre and irrte
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. irre runs 4 letters (VCCV) against irrte's 5 (VCCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: irre vs irrte
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: irre is [ˈɪʁə] while irrte is [ˈɪʁtə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 51279, 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]. irrte is at rank #46,755, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈɪʁtə].
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 51279, this pair ranks #1,141,548 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of irre vs irrte
Shared letters: eir. Private to "irre": -. Private to "irrte": t.
"irre" · 4 letters · shape VCCV · "irrte" · 5 letters · shape VCCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "irre" and "irrte" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "irre" or "irrte"?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "irre" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "irrte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,141,548 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "irre" and "irrte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Irrer 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 #1,141,548 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.