reduzierenvsreduzierterWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#4,640
“reduzieren” frequency rank
#40,165
“reduzierter” frequency rank
44805
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature reduzieren reduzierter
Definition etwas in seinem Wert geringer machen Nominativ Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs reduziert

Where the eye mixes reduzieren and reduzierter

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence. reduzieren runs 10 letters (CVCVCVVCVC) against reduzierter's 11 (CVCVCVVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

10 ch
reduzieren
11 ch
reduzierter

Visual trap between reduzieren and reduzierter

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: reduzieren is [ʁeduˈt͡siːʁən] while reduzierter is [ʁeduˈt͡siːɐ̯tɐ]. 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 44805, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

reduzieren is recorded at frequency rank #4,640, classified as averb, pronounced [ʁeduˈt͡siːʁən]. reduzierter is at rank #40,165, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ʁeduˈt͡siːɐ̯tɐ].

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 44805, this pair ranks #1,374,146 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of reduzieren vs reduzierter

Shared letters: deiruz. Private to "reduzieren": n. Private to "reduzierter": t.

"reduzieren" · 10 letters · shape CVCVCVVCVC  ·  "reduzierter" · 11 letters · shape CVCVCVVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • reduzieren ← erduzieren · rdeuzieren · redduzieren · reduizeren · reduzeiren · reduzieern · reduzierenn · reduzierne
  • reduzierter ← erduzierter · rdeuzierter · redduzierter · reduizerter · reduzeirter · reduzieretr · reduzierrter · reduzierterr

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "reduzieren" and "reduzierter" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "reduzieren" is a verb and "reduzierter" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "reduzieren" or "reduzierter" show up more?
"reduzieren" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,640 in our German list, against #40,165 for "reduzierter". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "reduzieren" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "reduzierter" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,374,146 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "reduzieren" and "reduzierter" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "reduzierten vs reduzierter". 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 #1,374,146 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