Which to use
“rettete” and “retteten” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #12,998
- “rettete” frequency rank
- #37,161
- “retteten” frequency rank
- 50159
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | rettete | retteten |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs retten | 1. Person Plural Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs retten |
Where the eye mixes rettete and retteten
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. rettete runs 7 letters (CVCCVCV) against retteten's 8 (CVCCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses rettete with retteten
A purely visual mix-up. rettete ([ˈʁɛtətə]) and retteten ([ˈʁɛtətn̩]) 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) - “rettete” sits inside “retteten”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 50159, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
rettete is recorded at frequency rank #12,998, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈʁɛtətə]. retteten is at rank #37,161, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈʁɛtətn̩].
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 50159, this pair ranks #1,184,386 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of rettete vs retteten
Shared letters: ert. Private to "rettete": -. Private to "retteten": n.
"rettete" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV · "retteten" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "rettete" and "retteten" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "rettete" or "retteten" show up more?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "rettete" and "retteten" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "rettete" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "retteten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,184,386 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "rettete" and "retteten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "redeten vs retteten". 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 #1,184,386 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.