nutzevsnutzteWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#5,989
“nutze” frequency rank
#7,089
“nutzte” frequency rank
13078
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature nutze nutzte
Definition 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs nutzen 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs nutzen

Where the eye mixes nutze and nutzte

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. nutze runs 5 letters (CVCCV) against nutzte's 6 (CVCCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

5 ch
nutze
6 ch
nutzte

Look-alike desk: nutze vs nutzte

A purely visual mix-up. nutze ([ˈnʊt͡sə]) and nutzte ([ˈnʊt͡stə]) 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 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 13078, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

nutze is recorded at frequency rank #5,989, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈnʊt͡sə]. nutzte is at rank #7,089, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈnʊt͡stə].

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 13078, this pair ranks #1,960,258 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of nutze vs nutzte

Shared letters: entuz. Private to "nutze": -. Private to "nutzte": -.

"nutze" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "nutzte" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • nutze ← nnutze · ntuze · nutez · nuttze · nutzze · nuzte · untze
  • nutzte ← nnutzte · ntuzte · nuttzte · nutzet · nutztte · nutzzte · nuztte · untzte

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "nutze" for "nutzte" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈnʊt͡sə] versus [ˈnʊt͡stə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "nutze" or "nutzte"?
"nutze" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,989 in our German list, against #7,089 for "nutzte". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "nutze" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "nutzte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,960,258 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "nutze" and "nutzte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "nutze vs Nutzers". 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 #1,960,258 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