Which to use
“passt” and “passte” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #838
- “passt” frequency rank
- #10,719
- “passte” frequency rank
- 11557
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | passt | passte |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 2. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs passen | 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs passen |
Where the eye mixes passt and passte
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between passt and passte
A purely visual mix-up. passt ([past]) 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 differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “passt” sits inside “passte”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 11557, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
passt is recorded at frequency rank #838, classified as averb, pronounced [past]. 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 11557, this pair ranks #1,969,239 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of passt vs passte
Shared letters: apst. Private to "passt": -. Private to "passte": e.
"passt" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC · "passte" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "passt" and "passte" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "passt" vs "passte" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "passt" and "passte" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "passt" 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 #1,969,239 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "passt" and "passte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "parkte vs passte". 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 #1,969,239 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.