Which to use
“passt” and “passten” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #838
- “passt” frequency rank
- #26,123
- “passten” frequency rank
- 26961
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | passt | passten |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 2. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs passen | 1. Person Plural Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs passen |
Where the eye mixes passt and passten
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses passt with passten
A purely visual mix-up. passt ([past]) and passten ([ˈpastn̩]) 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) - “passt” sits inside “passten”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 26961, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
passt is recorded at frequency rank #838, classified as averb, pronounced [past]. passten is at rank #26,123, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈpastn̩].
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 26961, this pair ranks #1,809,530 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of passt vs passten
Shared letters: apst. Private to "passt": -. Private to "passten": en.
"passt" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC · "passten" · 7 letters · shape CVCCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "passt" for "passten" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "passt" or "passten" show up more?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "passt" and "passten" 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 "passten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,809,530 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "passt" and "passten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Passes vs passten". 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 #1,809,530 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.