kontrollierenvskontrolliertConfusable pair

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

Which to use

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

#4,133
“kontrollieren” frequency rank
#4,051
“kontrolliert” frequency rank
8184
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature kontrollieren kontrolliert
Definition eine Person oder Sache daraufhin untersuchen, ob bei ihr bestimmte Kriterien, Anforderungen erfüllt sind jemand, der etwas mit Selbstbeherrschung und Selbstkontrolle durchführt

Where the eye mixes kontrollieren and kontrolliert

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 11 letters in sequence.

13 ch
kontrollieren
12 ch
kontrolliert

Look-alike desk: kontrollieren vs kontrolliert

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: kontrollieren is [kɔntʁɔˈliːʁən] while kontrolliert is [kɔntʁɔˈliːɐ̯t]. 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 adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 8184, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

kontrollieren is recorded at frequency rank #4,133, classified as averb, pronounced [kɔntʁɔˈliːʁən]. kontrolliert is at rank #4,051, tagged as anadj, pronounced [kɔntʁɔˈliːɐ̯t].

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 8184, this pair ranks #1,985,295 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of kontrollieren vs kontrolliert

Shared letters: eiklnort. Private to "kontrollieren": -. Private to "kontrolliert": -.

"kontrollieren" · 13 letters · shape CVCCCVCCVVCVC  ·  "kontrolliert" · 12 letters · shape CVCCCVCCVVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • kontrollierenkkontrollieren · knotrollieren · konntrollieren · konrtollieren · kontorllieren · kontrlolieren · kontrolieren · kontrolileren
  • kontrolliertkkontrolliert · knotrolliert · konntrolliert · konrtolliert · kontorlliert · kontrloliert · kontroliert · kontrolilert

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "kontrollieren" for "kontrolliert" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "kontrollieren" is a verb and "kontrolliert" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "kontrollieren" or "kontrolliert"?
"kontrolliert" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,051 in our German list, against #4,133 for "kontrollieren". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "kontrollieren" and "kontrolliert" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "kontrollieren" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "kontrolliert" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,985,295 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "kontrollieren" and "kontrolliert" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "kontrollieren vs kontrollierten". 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 #1,985,295 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