NutzervsnutzteWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: Nutzer is a noun, nutzte is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Nutzer” is a noun and “nutzte” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#2,168
“Nutzer” frequency rank
#7,089
“nutzte” frequency rank
9257
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Nutzer nutzte
Definition Person, die von etwas Gebrauch macht 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs nutzen

Where the eye mixes Nutzer and nutzte

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.

6 ch
Nutzer
6 ch
nutzte

Visual trap between Nutzer and nutzte

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Nutzer is [ˈnʊt͡sɐ] while nutzte is [ˈnʊt͡stə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 9257, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Nutzer is recorded at frequency rank #2,168, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈnʊt͡sɐ]. 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 9257, this pair ranks #1,980,760 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Nutzer vs nutzte

Shared letters: entuz. Private to "Nutzer": r. Private to "nutzte": -.

"Nutzer" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "nutzte" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Nutzernnutzer · ntuzer · nutezr · nuttzer · nutzerr · nutzre · nutzzer · nuzter
  • nutztennutzte · ntuzte · nuttzte · nutzet · nutztte · nutzzte · nuztte · untzte

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Nutzer" for "nutzte" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Nutzer" is a noun and "nutzte" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "Nutzer" vs "nutzte" - which ranks higher?
"Nutzer" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,168 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.

After this comparison

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Nutzer" 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 #1,980,760 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Nutzer" and "nutzte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Nutzer 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 #1,980,760 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