regnenvsregteWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#14,906
“regnen” frequency rank
#20,032
“regte” frequency rank
34938
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature regnen regte
Definition in Tropfenform zu Boden fallen 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs regen

Where the eye mixes regnen and regte

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

6 ch
regnen
5 ch
regte

Look-alike desk: regnen vs regte

A purely visual mix-up. regnen ([ˈʁeːɡnən]) and regte ([ˈʁeːktə]) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 34938, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

regnen is recorded at frequency rank #14,906, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈʁeːɡnən]. regte is at rank #20,032, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈʁeːktə].

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 34938, this pair ranks #1,651,813 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of regnen vs regte

Shared letters: egr. Private to "regnen": n. Private to "regte": t.

"regnen" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "regte" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • regnenergnen · reggnen · regnenn · regnne · regnnen · rengen · rgenen · rregnen
  • regteergte · reget · reggte · regtte · retge · rgete · rregte

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "regnen" for "regte" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈʁeːɡnən] versus [ˈʁeːktə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "regnen" or "regte" show up more?
"regnen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #14,906 in our German list, against #20,032 for "regte". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "regnen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "regte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,651,813 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "regnen" and "regte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "regst vs regte". 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 #1,651,813 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