Which to use
“kompetente” and “kompetenter” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #18,302
- “kompetente” frequency rank
- #31,133
- “kompetenter” frequency rank
- 49435
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | kompetente | kompetenter |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs kompetent | Nominativ Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs kompetent |
Where the eye mixes kompetente and kompetenter
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 10 letters in sequence. kompetente runs 10 letters (CVCCVCVCCV) against kompetenter's 11 (CVCCVCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between kompetente and kompetenter
A purely visual mix-up. kompetente ([kɔmpəˈtɛntə]) 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 1 extra letter(s) - “kompetente” sits inside “kompetenter”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 49435, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
kompetente is recorded at frequency rank #18,302, classified as anadj, pronounced [kɔmpəˈtɛntə]. 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 49435, this pair ranks #1,211,640 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of kompetente vs kompetenter
Shared letters: ekmnopt. Private to "kompetente": -. Private to "kompetenter": r.
"kompetente" · 10 letters · shape CVCCVCVCCV · "kompetenter" · 11 letters · shape CVCCVCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- kompetente ← kkompetente · kmopetente · komeptente · kommpetente · kompeetnte · kompetenet · kompetennte · kompetentte
- kompetenter ← kkompetenter · kmopetenter · komeptenter · kommpetenter · kompeetnter · kompetenetr · kompetennter · kompetenterr
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "kompetente" and "kompetenter" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "kompetente" vs "kompetenter" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "kompetente" 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 #1,211,640 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "kompetente" 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 #1,211,640 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.