Which to use
“rette” and “rettet” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #25,285
- “rette” frequency rank
- #7,104
- “rettet” frequency rank
- 32389
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | rette | rettet |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs retten | 3. Person Singular Präsens Indikativ des Verbs retten |
Where the eye mixes rette and rettet
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses rette with rettet
A purely visual mix-up. rette ([ˈʁɛtə]) and rettet ([ˈʁɛtət]) 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 extra letter(s) - “rette” sits inside “rettet”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 32389, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
rette is recorded at frequency rank #25,285, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈʁɛtə]. rettet is at rank #7,104, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈʁɛtət].
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 32389, this pair ranks #1,708,667 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of rette vs rettet
Shared letters: ert. Private to "rette": -. Private to "rettet": -.
"rette" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV · "rettet" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "rette" for "rettet" ever safe?
Which is more common, "rette" or "rettet"?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "rette" and "rettet" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "rette" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "rettet" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,708,667 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "rette" and "rettet" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ragte vs rette". 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 #1,708,667 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.