reflektiertvsreflektierteWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#13,221
“reflektiert” frequency rank
#48,415
“reflektierte” frequency rank
61636
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature reflektiert reflektierte
Definition 2. Person Plural Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs reflektieren Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs reflektiert

Where the eye mixes reflektiert and reflektierte

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

11 ch
reflektiert
12 ch
reflektierte

Visual trap between reflektiert and reflektierte

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: reflektiert is [ʁeflɛkˈtiːɐ̯t] while reflektierte is [ʁeflɛkˈtiːɐ̯tə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “reflektiert” sits inside “reflektierte”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 61636, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

reflektiert is recorded at frequency rank #13,221, classified as averb, pronounced [ʁeflɛkˈtiːɐ̯t]. reflektierte is at rank #48,415, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ʁeflɛkˈtiːɐ̯tə].

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 61636, this pair ranks #742,313 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of reflektiert vs reflektierte

Shared letters: efiklrt. Private to "reflektiert": -. Private to "reflektierte": -.

"reflektiert" · 11 letters · shape CVCCVCCVVCC  ·  "reflektierte" · 12 letters · shape CVCCVCCVVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • reflektiert ← erflektiert · refelktiert · refflektiert · reflekitert · reflekktiert · reflekteirt · reflektierrt · reflektiertt
  • reflektierte ← erflektierte · refelktierte · refflektierte · reflekiterte · reflekktierte · reflekteirte · reflektieret · reflektierrte

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "reflektiert" and "reflektierte" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "reflektiert" is a verb and "reflektierte" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "reflektiert" or "reflektierte" show up more?
"reflektiert" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #13,221 in our German list, against #48,415 for "reflektierte". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "reflektiert" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "reflektierte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #742,313 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "reflektiert" and "reflektierte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "reflektieren vs reflektierte". 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 #742,313 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