pustenvspustetTell them apart

Which to use

“pusten” and “pustet” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#35,395
“pusten” frequency rank
#46,216
“pustet” frequency rank
81611
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature pusten pustet
Definition durch plötzliches heftiges Ausatmen einen starken Luftstrom erzeugen 2. Person Plural Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs pusten

Where the eye mixes pusten and pustet

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. pusten and pustet follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

6 ch
pusten
6 ch
pustet

Look-alike desk: pusten vs pustet

A purely visual mix-up. pusten ([ˈpuːstn̩]) and pustet ([ˈpuːstət]) 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 a single letter - n in “pusten” becomes t in “pustet”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 81611, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

pusten is recorded at frequency rank #35,395, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈpuːstn̩]. pustet is at rank #46,216, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈpuːstət].

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 81611, this pair ranks #172,463 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of pusten vs pustet

Shared letters: epstu. Private to "pusten": n. Private to "pustet": -.

"pusten" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "pustet" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • pusten ← ppusten · psuten · pusetn · pussten · pustenn · pustne · pustten · putsen
  • pustet ← ppustet · psutet · pusett · pusstet · pustett · pusttet · putset · upstet

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "pusten" and "pustet" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈpuːstn̩] versus [ˈpuːstət]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "pusten" or "pustet" show up more?
"pusten" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #35,395 in our German list, against #46,216 for "pustet". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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 "pusten" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "pustet" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #172,463 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "pusten" and "pustet" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "postete vs pustet". 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 #172,463 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list