kündigenvskündigteWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

“kündigen” and “kündigte” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#7,639
“kündigen” frequency rank
#7,956
“kündigte” frequency rank
15595
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature kündigen kündigte
Definition einen Vertrag/eine Vertragsbeziehung einseitig beenden 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum des Verbs kündigen

Where the eye mixes kündigen and kündigte

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. kündigen (CVCCVCVC) and kündigte (CVCCVCCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

8 ch
kündigen
8 ch
kündigte

Visual trap between kündigen and kündigte

A purely visual mix-up. kündigen ([ˈkʏndɪɡn̩]) and kündigte ([ˈkʏndɪçtə]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 15595, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

kündigen is recorded at frequency rank #7,639, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈkʏndɪɡn̩]. kündigte is at rank #7,956, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈkʏndɪçtə].

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 15595, this pair ranks #1,942,626 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of kündigen vs kündigte

Shared letters: degiknü. Private to "kündigen": -. Private to "kündigte": t.

"kündigen" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC  ·  "kündigte" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCCV

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "kündigen" for "kündigte" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈkʏndɪɡn̩] versus [ˈkʏndɪçtə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "kündigen" or "kündigte"?
"kündigen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,639 in our German list, against #7,956 for "kündigte". 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 "kündigen" and "kündigte" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "kündigen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "kündigte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,942,626 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "kündigen" and "kündigte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "kündigte vs kündigten". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #1,942,626 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