konstruierenvskonstruierteTell them apart

Quick tell: konstruieren is a verb, konstruierte is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“konstruieren” is a verb and “konstruierte” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#18,958
“konstruieren” frequency rank
#33,678
“konstruierte” frequency rank
52636
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature konstruieren konstruierte
Definition ein kompliziertes technisches Objekt neu entwerfen Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs konstruiert

Where the eye mixes konstruieren and konstruierte

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 11 letters in sequence. konstruieren (CVCCCCVVVCVC) and konstruierte (CVCCCCVVVCCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

12 ch
konstruieren
12 ch
konstruierte

Why the eye confuses konstruieren with konstruierte

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: konstruieren is [kɔnstʁuˈiːʁən] while konstruierte is [kɔnstʁuˈiːɐ̯tə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 52636, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

konstruieren is recorded at frequency rank #18,958, classified as averb, pronounced [kɔnstʁuˈiːʁən]. konstruierte is at rank #33,678, tagged as anadj, pronounced [kɔnstʁuˈiːɐ̯tə].

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 52636, this pair ranks #1,089,139 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of konstruieren vs konstruierte

Shared letters: eiknorstu. Private to "konstruieren": -. Private to "konstruierte": -.

"konstruieren" · 12 letters · shape CVCCCCVVVCVC  ·  "konstruierte" · 12 letters · shape CVCCCCVVVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • konstruieren ← kkonstruieren · knostruieren · konnstruieren · konsrtuieren · konsstruieren · konstriueren · konstrruieren · konstrueiren
  • konstruierte ← kkonstruierte · knostruierte · konnstruierte · konsrtuierte · konsstruierte · konstriuerte · konstrruierte · konstrueirte

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "konstruieren" and "konstruierte" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "konstruieren" is a verb and "konstruierte" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "konstruieren" or "konstruierte" show up more?
"konstruieren" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #18,958 in our German list, against #33,678 for "konstruierte". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "konstruieren" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "konstruierte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,089,139 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "konstruieren" and "konstruierte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "konstatierte vs konstruierte". 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 #1,089,139 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list