packtevspassteWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#16,510
“packte” frequency rank
#10,719
“passte” frequency rank
27229
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature packte passte
Definition 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs packen 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs passen

Where the eye mixes packte and passte

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

6 ch
packte
6 ch
passte

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. packte ([ˈpaktə]) and passte ([ˈpastə]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 27229, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

packte is recorded at frequency rank #16,510, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈpaktə]. passte is at rank #10,719, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈpastə].

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 27229, this pair ranks #1,805,163 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of packte vs passte

Shared letters: aept. Private to "packte": ck. Private to "passte": s.

"packte" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCV  ·  "passte" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • packteapckte · pacckte · packkte · packtte · pactke · pakcte · pcakte · ppackte
  • passteapsste · passet · passtte · pastse · paßte · ppasste · psaste

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "packte" and "passte" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈpaktə] versus [ˈpastə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "packte" or "passte"?
"passte" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,719 in our German list, against #16,510 for "packte". 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 "packte" and "passte". Here's where to go from here.

  • Full dictionary entry for "packte" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "passte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,805,163 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "packte" and "passte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "packte vs parkte". 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