rücktvsrücktenTell them apart

Which to use

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

#7,107
“rückt” frequency rank
#22,122
“rückten” frequency rank
29229
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature rückt rückten
Definition 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs rücken 1. Person Plural Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs rücken

Where the eye mixes rückt and rückten

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. rückt runs 5 letters (CVCCC) against rückten's 7 (CVCCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

5 ch
rückt
7 ch
rückten

Why the eye confuses rückt with rückten

A purely visual mix-up. rückt ([ʁʏkt]) and rückten ([ˈʁʏktn̩]) 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 2 extra letter(s) - “rückt” sits inside “rückten”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 29229, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

rückt is recorded at frequency rank #7,107, classified as averb, pronounced [ʁʏkt]. rückten is at rank #22,122, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈʁʏktn̩].

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 29229, this pair ranks #1,770,709 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of rückt vs rückten

Shared letters: ckrtü. Private to "rückt": -. Private to "rückten": en.

"rückt" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC  ·  "rückten" · 7 letters · shape CVCCCVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "rückt" and "rückten" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ʁʏkt] versus [ˈʁʏktn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "rückt" or "rückten" show up more?
"rückt" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,107 in our German list, against #22,122 for "rückten". 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 "rückt" and "rückten" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "rückt" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "rückten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,770,709 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "rückt" and "rückten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Rückens vs rückten". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #1,770,709 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