Which to use
“merkt” and “merkte” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #2,912
- “merkt” frequency rank
- #8,596
- “merkte” frequency rank
- 11508
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | merkt | merkte |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs merken | 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs merken |
Where the eye mixes merkt and merkte
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. merkt runs 5 letters (CVCCC) against merkte's 6 (CVCCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between merkt and merkte
A purely visual mix-up. merkt ([mɛʁkt]) and merkte ([ˈmɛʁktə]) 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) - “merkt” sits inside “merkte”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 11508, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
merkt is recorded at frequency rank #2,912, classified as averb, pronounced [mɛʁkt]. merkte is at rank #8,596, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈmɛʁktə].
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 11508, this pair ranks #1,969,524 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of merkt vs merkte
Shared letters: ekmrt. Private to "merkt": -. Private to "merkte": -.
"merkt" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC · "merkte" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "merkt" and "merkte" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "merkt" or "merkte"?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "merkt" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "merkte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,969,524 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "merkt" and "merkte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "merkte vs Mette". 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 #1,969,524 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.