Which to use
“kompetent” and “kompetenter” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #12,521
- “kompetent” frequency rank
- #31,133
- “kompetenter” frequency rank
- 43654
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | kompetent | kompetenter |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | fähig, über das nötige Wissen, Können verfügend | Nominativ Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs kompetent |
Where the eye mixes kompetent and kompetenter
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence. kompetent runs 9 letters (CVCCVCVCC) against kompetenter's 11 (CVCCVCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between kompetent and kompetenter
A purely visual mix-up. kompetent ([kɔmpəˈtɛnt]) and kompetenter ([kɔmpəˈtɛntɐ]) 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 2 extra letter(s) - “kompetent” sits inside “kompetenter”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 43654, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
kompetent is recorded at frequency rank #12,521, classified as anadj, pronounced [kɔmpəˈtɛnt]. kompetenter is at rank #31,133, tagged as anadj, pronounced [kɔmpəˈtɛntɐ].
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 43654, this pair ranks #1,411,195 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of kompetent vs kompetenter
Shared letters: ekmnopt. Private to "kompetent": -. Private to "kompetenter": r.
"kompetent" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCVCC · "kompetenter" · 11 letters · shape CVCCVCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- kompetent ← kkompetent · kmopetent · komeptent · kommpetent · kompeetnt · kompetennt · kompetentt · kompetetn
- kompetenter ← kkompetenter · kmopetenter · komeptenter · kommpetenter · kompeetnter · kompetenetr · kompetennter · kompetenterr
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "kompetent" for "kompetenter" ever safe?
Frequency check: "kompetent" vs "kompetenter" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "kompetent" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "kompetenter" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,411,195 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "kompetent" and "kompetenter" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "kompetenten vs kompetenter". 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 #1,411,195 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.