Which to use
“regieren” is a verb and “regierten” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #8,126
- “regieren” frequency rank
- #28,351
- “regierten” frequency rank
- 36477
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | regieren | regierten |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | die Herrschaft ausüben, die Macht haben | Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs regiert |
Where the eye mixes regieren and regierten
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. regieren runs 8 letters (CVCVVCVC) against regierten's 9 (CVCVVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: regieren vs regierten
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: regieren is [ʁeˈɡiːʁən] while regierten is [ʁeˈɡiːɐ̯tn̩]. 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 36477, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
regieren is recorded at frequency rank #8,126, classified as averb, pronounced [ʁeˈɡiːʁən]. regierten is at rank #28,351, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ʁeˈɡiːɐ̯tn̩].
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 36477, this pair ranks #1,614,656 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of regieren vs regierten
Shared letters: eginr. Private to "regieren": -. Private to "regierten": t.
"regieren" · 8 letters · shape CVCVVCVC · "regierten" · 9 letters · shape CVCVVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "regieren" for "regierten" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "regieren" or "regierten" show up more?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "regieren" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "regierten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,614,656 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "regieren" and "regierten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "regierten vs regulierten". 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 #1,614,656 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.