mischenvsmischteWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#8,598
“mischen” frequency rank
#30,203
“mischte” frequency rank
38801
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature mischen mischte
Definition verschiedene Substanzen (beispielsweise Flüssigkeiten, Chemikalien, Pulver) zusammenschütten (meist in ein Behältnis), durcheinanderrühren/mixen, sodass ein einheitliches Gemisch entsteht 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs mischen

Where the eye mixes mischen and mischte

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.

7 ch
mischen
7 ch
mischte

Why the eye confuses mischen with mischte

A purely visual mix-up. mischen ([ˈmɪʃn̩]) and mischte ([ˈmɪʃtə]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 38801, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

mischen is recorded at frequency rank #8,598, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈmɪʃn̩]. mischte is at rank #30,203, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈmɪʃtə].

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 38801, this pair ranks #1,554,243 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of mischen vs mischte

Shared letters: cehims. Private to "mischen": n. Private to "mischte": t.

"mischen" · 7 letters · shape CVCCCVC  ·  "mischte" · 7 letters · shape CVCCCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • mischenimschen · micshen · miscchen · miscehn · mischenn · mischhen · mischne · mishcen
  • mischteimschte · micshte · miscchte · mischet · mischhte · mischtte · miscthe · mishcte

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "mischen" and "mischte" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈmɪʃn̩] versus [ˈmɪʃtə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "mischen" or "mischte" show up more?
"mischen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,598 in our German list, against #30,203 for "mischte". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "mischen" and "mischte" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "mischen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "mischte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,554,243 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "mischen" and "mischte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Mischa vs mischte". 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 #1,554,243 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