liebtevsliebtenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#9,765
“liebte” frequency rank
#33,701
“liebten” frequency rank
43466
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature liebte liebten
Definition 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs lieben 1. Person Plural Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs lieben

Where the eye mixes liebte and liebten

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. liebte runs 6 letters (CVVCCV) against liebten's 7 (CVVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
liebte
7 ch
liebten

Look-alike desk: liebte vs liebten

A purely visual mix-up. liebte ([ˈliːptə]) and liebten ([ˈliːptn̩]) 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) - “liebte” sits inside “liebten”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 43466, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

liebte is recorded at frequency rank #9,765, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈliːptə]. liebten is at rank #33,701, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈliːptn̩].

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 43466, this pair ranks #1,417,199 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of liebte vs liebten

Shared letters: beilt. Private to "liebte": -. Private to "liebten": n.

"liebte" · 6 letters · shape CVVCCV  ·  "liebten" · 7 letters · shape CVVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • liebteilebte · leibte · libete · liebbte · liebet · liebtte · lietbe · lliebte
  • liebtenilebten · leibten · libeten · liebbten · liebetn · liebtenn · liebtne · liebtten

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "liebte" and "liebten" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈliːptə] versus [ˈliːptn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "liebte" or "liebten"?
"liebte" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #9,765 in our German list, against #33,701 for "liebten". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "liebte" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "liebten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,417,199 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "liebte" and "liebten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "letten vs liebten". 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 #1,417,199 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