murmeltvsmurmelteWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#38,302
“murmelt” frequency rank
#47,601
“murmelte” frequency rank
85903
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature murmelt murmelte
Definition 2. Person Plural Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs murmeln 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs murmeln

Where the eye mixes murmelt and murmelte

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

7 ch
murmelt
8 ch
murmelte

Why the eye confuses murmelt with murmelte

A purely visual mix-up. murmelt ([ˈmʊʁml̩t]) and murmelte ([ˈmʊʁml̩tə]) 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) - “murmelt” sits inside “murmelte”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 85903, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

murmelt is recorded at frequency rank #38,302, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈmʊʁml̩t]. murmelte is at rank #47,601, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈmʊʁml̩tə].

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 85903, this pair ranks #101,392 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of murmelt vs murmelte

Shared letters: elmrtu. Private to "murmelt": -. Private to "murmelte": -.

"murmelt" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCC  ·  "murmelte" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • murmelt ← mmurmelt · mrumelt · mumrelt · muremlt · murmellt · murmeltt · murmetl · murmlet
  • murmelte ← mmurmelte · mrumelte · mumrelte · muremlte · murmelet · murmellte · murmeltte · murmetle

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "murmelt" and "murmelte" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈmʊʁml̩t] versus [ˈmʊʁml̩tə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "murmelt" or "murmelte"?
"murmelt" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #38,302 in our German list, against #47,601 for "murmelte". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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 "murmelt" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "murmelte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #101,392 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "murmelt" and "murmelte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "murmelte vs Murmeltier". 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 #101,392 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