Which to use
“passiert” and “passierten” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #550
- “passiert” frequency rank
- #38,331
- “passierten” frequency rank
- 38881
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | passiert | passierten |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | durch ein feinmaschiges Sieb oder ein Tuch gestrichen | Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs passiert |
Where the eye mixes passiert and passierten
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. passiert runs 8 letters (CVCCVVCC) against passierten's 10 (CVCCVVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: passiert vs passierten
A purely visual mix-up. passiert ([paˈsiːɐ̯t]) and passierten ([paˈsiːɐ̯tn̩]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “passiert” sits inside “passierten”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 38881, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
passiert is recorded at frequency rank #550, classified as anadj, pronounced [paˈsiːɐ̯t]. passierten is at rank #38,331, tagged as anadj, pronounced [paˈsiːɐ̯tn̩].
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 38881, this pair ranks #1,552,169 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of passiert vs passierten
Shared letters: aeiprst. Private to "passiert": -. Private to "passierten": n.
"passiert" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVVCC · "passierten" · 10 letters · shape CVCCVVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- passiert ← apssiert · pasiert · pasisert · passeirt · passierrt · passiertt · passietr · passiret
- passierten ← apssierten · pasierten · pasiserten · passeirten · passieretn · passierrten · passiertenn · passiertne
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "passiert" and "passierten" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "passiert" or "passierten"?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "passiert" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "passierten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,552,169 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "passiert" and "passierten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "passierten vs pausieren". 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 #1,552,169 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.