ottevsoutenConfusable pair

Quick tell: otte is a num, outen is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“otte” is a num and “outen” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#38,325
“otte” frequency rank
#35,369
“outen” frequency rank
73694
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature otte outen
Definition acht etwas bis dahin Verheimlichtes über sich bekennen, bekannt machen

Where the eye mixes otte and outen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. otte runs 4 letters (VCCV) against outen's 5 (VVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

4 ch
otte
5 ch
outen

Look-alike desk: otte vs outen

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: otte is [ˈo̜ːdə] while outen is [ˈaʊ̯tn̩]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (num vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 73694, 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]. outen is at rank #35,369, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈaʊ̯tn̩].

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 73694, this pair ranks #353,368 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of otte vs outen

Shared letters: eot. Private to "otte": -. Private to "outen": nu.

"otte" · 4 letters · shape VCCV  ·  "outen" · 5 letters · shape VVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • otte ← ote · otet
  • outen ← otuen · ouetn · outenn · outne · outten · uoten

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "otte" for "outen" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "otte" is a num and "outen" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "otte" or "outen"?
"outen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #35,369 in our German list, against #38,325 for "otte". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Eye-level mix-up between "otte" and "outen" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "otte" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "outen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #353,368 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "otte" and "outen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Oasen vs outen". 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 #353,368 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