nanntevsnanntenTell them apart

Which to use

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

#3,270
“nannte” frequency rank
#9,955
“nannten” frequency rank
13225
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature nannte nannten
Definition 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum des Verbs nennen 1. Person Plural Indikativ Präteritum des Verbs nennen

Where the eye mixes nannte and nannten

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. nannte runs 6 letters (CVCCCV) against nannten's 7 (CVCCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
nannte
7 ch
nannten

Why the eye confuses nannte with nannten

A purely visual mix-up. nannte ([ˈnantə]) and nannten ([ˈnantn̩]) 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) - “nannte” sits inside “nannten”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 13225, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

nannte is recorded at frequency rank #3,270, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈnantə]. nannten is at rank #9,955, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈnantn̩].

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 13225, this pair ranks #1,959,316 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of nannte vs nannten

Shared letters: aent. Private to "nannte": -. Private to "nannten": -.

"nannte" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCV  ·  "nannten" · 7 letters · shape CVCCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • nannte ← annnte · nannet · nanntte · nante · nantne · nnannte · nnante
  • nannten ← annnten · nannetn · nanntenn · nanntne · nanntten · nanten · nantnen · nnannten

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "nannte" and "nannten" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈnantə] versus [ˈnantn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "nannte" or "nannten" show up more?
"nannte" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,270 in our German list, against #9,955 for "nannten". 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 "nannte" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "nannten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,959,316 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "nannte" and "nannten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "nannten vs Nantes". 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 #1,959,316 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