Which to use
“passieren” is a verb and “passierte” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #1,428
- “passieren” frequency rank
- #8,437
- “passierte” frequency rank
- 9865
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | passieren | passierte |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | etwas durchqueren, an etwas vorbeigehen oder -fahren, einen Ort überschreiten | Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs passiert |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set passieren and passierte apart are highlighted. They share 8 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: passieren is [paˈsiːʁən] while passierte is [paˈsiːɐ̯tə]. 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 (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 9865, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
passieren is recorded at frequency rank #1,428, classified as averb, pronounced [paˈsiːʁən]. passierte is at rank #8,437, tagged as anadj, pronounced [paˈsiːɐ̯tə].
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 9865, this pair ranks #1,977,933 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of passieren vs passierte
Shared letters: aeiprs. Private to "passieren": n. Private to "passierte": t.
"passieren" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVVCVC · "passierte" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "passieren" and "passierte" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "passieren" or "passierte"?
Remembering passieren vs passierte
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “passieren”; for an adjective, it's “passierte”.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “passieren” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable