kontrollierenvskontrolliertenConfusable pair

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

Which to use

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

#4,133
“kontrollieren” frequency rank
#15,930
“kontrollierten” frequency rank
20063
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature kontrollieren kontrollierten
Definition eine Person oder Sache daraufhin untersuchen, ob bei ihr bestimmte Kriterien, Anforderungen erfüllt sind Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs kontrolliert

Where the eye mixes kontrollieren and kontrollierten

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 13 letters in sequence.

13 ch
kontrollieren
14 ch
kontrollierten

Visual trap between kontrollieren and kontrollierten

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: kontrollieren is [kɔntʁɔˈliːʁən] while kontrollierten is [kɔntʁɔˈliːɐ̯tn̩]. 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 20063, 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]. kontrollierten is at rank #15,930, tagged as anadj, pronounced [kɔntʁɔˈliːɐ̯tn̩].

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 20063, this pair ranks #1,901,682 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of kontrollieren vs kontrollierten

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

"kontrollieren" · 13 letters · shape CVCCCVCCVVCVC  ·  "kontrollierten" · 14 letters · shape CVCCCVCCVVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • kontrollierenkkontrollieren · knotrollieren · konntrollieren · konrtollieren · kontorllieren · kontrlolieren · kontrolieren · kontrolileren
  • kontrolliertenkkontrollierten · knotrollierten · konntrollierten · konrtollierten · kontorllierten · kontrlolierten · kontrolierten · kontrolilerten

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "kontrollieren" for "kontrollierten" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "kontrollieren" is a verb and "kontrollierten" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "kontrollieren" vs "kontrollierten" - which ranks higher?
"kontrollieren" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,133 in our German list, against #15,930 for "kontrollierten". 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 "kontrollieren" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "kontrollierten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,901,682 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "kontrollieren" and "kontrollierten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "kontrollierte 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 #1,901,682 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