packetvspackteWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#38,938
“packet” frequency rank
#16,510
“packte” frequency rank
55448
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature packet packte
Definition 2. Person Plural Konjunktiv I Präsens Aktiv des Verbs packen 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs packen

Where the eye mixes packet and packte

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

6 ch
packet
6 ch
packte

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. packet ([ˈpakət]) and packte ([ˈpaktə]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ only by swapping two adjacent letters (et ↔ te) - a transposition the eye reads straight past. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 55448, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

packet is recorded at frequency rank #38,938, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈpakət]. packte is at rank #16,510, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈpaktə].

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 55448, this pair ranks #979,138 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of packet vs packte

Shared letters: acekpt. Private to "packet": -. Private to "packte": -.

"packet" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "packte" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • packetapcket · paccket · pacekt · packett · packket · pakcet · pcaket · ppacket
  • packteapckte · pacckte · packkte · packtte · pactke · pakcte · pcakte · ppackte

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "packet" and "packte" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈpakət] versus [ˈpaktə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "packet" or "packte"?
"packte" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #16,510 in our German list, against #38,938 for "packet". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

You've compared "packet" and "packte". Here's where to go from here.

  • Full dictionary entry for "packet" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "packte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #979,138 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "packet" and "packte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "packet vs picken". 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

PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list