meidevsmeinteWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#38,897
“meide” frequency rank
#1,165
“meinte” frequency rank
40062
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature meide meinte
Definition 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs meiden 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum des Verbs meinen

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set meide and meinte apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
meide
6 ch
meinte

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. meide ([ˈmaɪ̯də]) and meinte ([ˈmaɪ̯ntə]) 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 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 40062, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

meide is recorded at frequency rank #38,897, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈmaɪ̯də]. meinte is at rank #1,165, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈmaɪ̯ntə].

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 40062, this pair ranks #1,519,106 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of meide vs meinte

Shared letters: eim. Private to "meide": d. Private to "meinte": nt.

"meide" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV  ·  "meinte" · 6 letters · shape CVVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • meideemide · medie · meidde · meied · miede · mmeide
  • meinteeminte · meinet · meinnte · meintte · meitne · menite · miente · mmeinte

Frequency comparison

meide#38,897
meinte#1,165

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "meide" and "meinte" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈmaɪ̯də] versus [ˈmaɪ̯ntə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "meide" or "meinte"?
"meinte" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,165 in our German list, against #38,897 for "meide". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering meide vs meinte

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “meide” 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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list