Which to use
“irrte” is a verb and “Irrtum” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #46,755
- “irrte” frequency rank
- #9,049
- “Irrtum” frequency rank
- 55804
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | irrte | Irrtum |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs irren | unabsichtlich falsche Annahme |
Where the eye mixes irrte and Irrtum
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. irrte runs 5 letters (VCCCV) against Irrtum's 6 (VCCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: irrte vs Irrtum
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: irrte is [ˈɪʁtə] while Irrtum is [ˈɪʁtuːm]. 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 (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 55804, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
irrte is recorded at frequency rank #46,755, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈɪʁtə]. Irrtum is at rank #9,049, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈɪʁtuːm].
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 55804, this pair ranks #965,070 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of irrte vs Irrtum
Shared letters: irt. Private to "irrte": e. Private to "Irrtum": mu.
"irrte" · 5 letters · shape VCCCV · "Irrtum" · 6 letters · shape VCCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "irrte" for "Irrtum" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "irrte" or "Irrtum" show up more?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "irrte" and "Irrtum" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "irrte" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "Irrtum" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #965,070 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "irrte" and "Irrtum" 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 #965,070 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.