Which to use
“passte” and “passten” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #10,719
- “passte” frequency rank
- #26,123
- “passten” frequency rank
- 36842
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | passte | passten |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs passen | 1. Person Plural Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs passen |
Where the eye mixes passte and passten
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between passte and passten
A purely visual mix-up. passte ([ˈpastə]) 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 1 extra letter(s) - “passte” sits inside “passten”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 36842, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
passte is recorded at frequency rank #10,719, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈpastə]. 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 36842, this pair ranks #1,605,335 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of passte vs passten
Shared letters: aepst. Private to "passte": -. Private to "passten": n.
"passte" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCV · "passten" · 7 letters · shape CVCCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "passte" for "passten" ever safe?
Which is more common, "passte" or "passten"?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "passte" 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 #1,605,335 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "passte" 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 #1,605,335 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.