reaktivierenvsreaktiviertWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: reaktivieren is a verb, reaktiviert is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“reaktivieren” is a verb and “reaktiviert” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#48,409
“reaktivieren” frequency rank
#40,161
“reaktiviert” frequency rank
88570
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature reaktivieren reaktiviert
Definition jemand, der bereits im Ruhestand ist/etwas beendet hat, wieder zu einer Tätigkeiten/einem Dienst veranlassen jemand, der bereits im Ruhestand ist/etwas beendet hat, wieder zu einer Tätigkeiten/einem Dienst veranlassend

Where the eye mixes reaktivieren and reaktiviert

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 10 letters in sequence. reaktivieren runs 12 letters (CVVCCVCVVCVC) against reaktiviert's 11 (CVVCCVCVVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

12 ch
reaktivieren
11 ch
reaktiviert

Visual trap between reaktivieren and reaktiviert

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: reaktivieren is [ʁeaktiˈviːʁən] while reaktiviert is [ʁeaktiˈviːɐ̯t]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 88570, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

reaktivieren is recorded at frequency rank #48,409, classified as averb, pronounced [ʁeaktiˈviːʁən]. reaktiviert is at rank #40,161, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ʁeaktiˈviːɐ̯t].

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 88570, this pair ranks #66,876 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of reaktivieren vs reaktiviert

Shared letters: aeikrtv. Private to "reaktivieren": n. Private to "reaktiviert": -.

"reaktivieren" · 12 letters · shape CVVCCVCVVCVC  ·  "reaktiviert" · 11 letters · shape CVVCCVCVVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • reaktivieren ← eraktivieren · raektivieren · reakitvieren · reakktivieren · reaktiiveren · reaktiveiren · reaktivieern · reaktivierenn
  • reaktiviert ← eraktiviert · raektiviert · reakitviert · reakktiviert · reaktiivert · reaktiveirt · reaktivierrt · reaktiviertt

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "reaktivieren" for "reaktiviert" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "reaktivieren" is a verb and "reaktiviert" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "reaktivieren" vs "reaktiviert" - which ranks higher?
"reaktiviert" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #40,161 in our German list, against #48,409 for "reaktivieren". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "reaktivieren" and "reaktiviert" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "reaktivieren" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "reaktiviert" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #66,876 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "reaktivieren" and "reaktiviert" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "reaktivieren vs Reaktivierung". 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 #66,876 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