meldetevsmeldetenConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#7,963
“meldete” frequency rank
#21,694
“meldeten” frequency rank
29657
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature meldete meldeten
Definition 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs melden 1. Person Plural Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs melden

Where the eye mixes meldete and meldeten

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. meldete runs 7 letters (CVCCVCV) against meldeten's 8 (CVCCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

7 ch
meldete
8 ch
meldeten

Why the eye confuses meldete with meldeten

A purely visual mix-up. meldete ([ˈmɛldətə]) and meldeten ([ˈmɛldətn̩]) 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) - “meldete” sits inside “meldeten”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 29657, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

meldete is recorded at frequency rank #7,963, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈmɛldətə]. meldeten is at rank #21,694, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈmɛldətn̩].

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 29657, this pair ranks #1,762,717 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of meldete vs meldeten

Shared letters: delmt. Private to "meldete": -. Private to "meldeten": n.

"meldete" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV  ·  "meldeten" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • meldete ← emldete · medlete · melddete · meldeet · meldette · meldtee · meledte · melldete
  • meldeten ← emldeten · medleten · melddeten · meldeetn · meldetenn · meldetne · meldetten · meldteen

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "meldete" for "meldeten" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈmɛldətə] versus [ˈmɛldətn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "meldete" vs "meldeten" - which ranks higher?
"meldete" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,963 in our German list, against #21,694 for "meldeten". 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 "meldete" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "meldeten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,762,717 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "meldete" and "meldeten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Melder vs meldete". 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 #1,762,717 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