marschierenvsmarschierteWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#12,966
“marschieren” frequency rank
#27,840
“marschierte” frequency rank
40806
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature marschieren marschierte
Definition in geschlossener Reihe (und gleichem Schritt) gehen Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs marschiert

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set marschieren and marschierte apart are highlighted. They share 10 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

11 ch
marschieren
11 ch
marschierte

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: marschieren is [maʁˈʃiːʁən] while marschierte is [maʁˈʃiːɐ̯tə]. 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 40806, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

marschieren is recorded at frequency rank #12,966, classified as averb, pronounced [maʁˈʃiːʁən]. marschierte is at rank #27,840, tagged as anadj, pronounced [maʁˈʃiːɐ̯tə].

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 40806, this pair ranks #1,497,758 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of marschieren vs marschierte

Shared letters: acehimrs. Private to "marschieren": n. Private to "marschierte": t.

"marschieren" · 11 letters · shape CVCCCCVVCVC  ·  "marschierte" · 11 letters · shape CVCCCCVVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • marschierenamrschieren · marcshieren · marrschieren · marscchieren · marscheiren · marschhieren · marschieern · marschierenn
  • marschierteamrschierte · marcshierte · marrschierte · marscchierte · marscheirte · marschhierte · marschieret · marschierrte

Frequency comparison

marschieren#12,966
marschierte#27,840

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "marschieren" and "marschierte" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "marschieren" is a verb and "marschierte" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "marschieren" or "marschierte"?
"marschieren" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #12,966 in our German list, against #27,840 for "marschierte". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering marschieren vs marschierte

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “marschieren”; for an adjective, it's “marschierte”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “marschieren” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list