Which to use
“irrt” and “irrte” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #20,308
- “irrt” frequency rank
- #46,755
- “irrte” frequency rank
- 67063
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | irrt | irrte |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs irren | 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs irren |
Where the eye mixes irrt and irrte
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. irrt runs 4 letters (VCCC) against irrte's 5 (VCCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between irrt and irrte
A purely visual mix-up. irrt ([ɪʁt]) and irrte ([ˈɪʁtə]) 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) - “irrt” sits inside “irrte”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 67063, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
irrt is recorded at frequency rank #20,308, classified as averb, pronounced [ɪʁt]. 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 67063, this pair ranks #552,461 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of irrt vs irrte
Shared letters: irt. Private to "irrt": -. Private to "irrte": e.
"irrt" · 4 letters · shape VCCC · "irrte" · 5 letters · shape VCCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "irrt" for "irrte" ever safe?
Which is more common, "irrt" or "irrte"?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "irrt" 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 #552,461 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "irrt" 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 #552,461 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.