Which to use
“patente” is an adjective and “Patienten” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #18,013
- “patente” frequency rank
- #1,304
- “Patienten” frequency rank
- 19317
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | patente | Patienten |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs patent | Genitiv Singular des Substantivs Patient |
Where the eye mixes patente and Patienten
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. patente runs 7 letters (CVCVCCV) against Patienten's 9 (CVCVVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: patente vs Patienten
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: patente is [paˈtɛntə] while Patienten is [paˈt͡si̯ɛntn̩]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 19317, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
patente is recorded at frequency rank #18,013, classified as anadj, pronounced [paˈtɛntə]. Patienten is at rank #1,304, tagged as anoun, pronounced [paˈt͡si̯ɛntn̩].
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 19317, this pair ranks #1,909,649 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of patente vs Patienten
Shared letters: aenpt. Private to "patente": -. Private to "Patienten": i.
"patente" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCV · "Patienten" · 9 letters · shape CVCVVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "patente" for "Patienten" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "patente" or "Patienten" show up more?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "patente" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "Patienten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,909,649 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "patente" and "Patienten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "patente vs Patenten". 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 #1,909,649 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.