Which to use
“otte” is a num and “Otter” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #38,325
- “otte” frequency rank
- #35,946
- “Otter” frequency rank
- 74271
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | otte | Otter |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | acht | kleines Säugetier, das im und am Wasser lebt und zur Familie der Marder gehört |
Where the eye mixes otte and Otter
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. otte runs 4 letters (VCCV) against Otter's 5 (VCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between otte and Otter
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: otte is [ˈo̜ːdə] while Otter is [ˈɔtɐ]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “otte” sits inside “Otter”, and the parts of speech differ too (num vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 74271, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
otte is recorded at frequency rank #38,325, classified as anum, pronounced [ˈo̜ːdə]. Otter is at rank #35,946, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈɔtɐ].
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 74271, this pair ranks #337,846 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of otte vs Otter
Shared letters: eot. Private to "otte": -. Private to "Otter": r.
"otte" · 4 letters · shape VCCV · "Otter" · 5 letters · shape VCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "otte" and "Otter" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary German text, does "otte" or "Otter" show up more?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "otte" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "Otter" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #337,846 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "otte" and "Otter" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "otte vs Outs". 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 #337,846 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.