Which to use
“Schlepptau” is a noun and “schleppte” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #47,715
- “Schlepptau” frequency rank
- #43,468
- “schleppte” frequency rank
- 91183
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Schlepptau | schleppte |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | starkes Seil, das zum Ziehen eines Fahrzeuges verwendet wird | 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs schleppen |
Where the eye mixes Schlepptau and schleppte
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. Schlepptau runs 10 letters (CCCCVCCCVV) against schleppte's 9 (CCCCVCCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between Schlepptau and schleppte
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Schlepptau is [ˈʃlɛpˌtaʊ̯] while schleppte is [ˈʃlɛptə]. 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 (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 91183, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Schlepptau is recorded at frequency rank #47,715, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈʃlɛpˌtaʊ̯]. schleppte is at rank #43,468, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈʃlɛptə].
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 91183, this pair ranks #40,149 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of Schlepptau vs schleppte
Shared letters: cehlpst. Private to "Schlepptau": au. Private to "schleppte": -.
"Schlepptau" · 10 letters · shape CCCCVCCCVV · "schleppte" · 9 letters · shape CCCCVCCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- Schlepptau ← cshlepptau · scchlepptau · schelpptau · schhlepptau · schleppatu · schleppttau · schlepptua · schleptau
- schleppte ← cshleppte · scchleppte · schelppte · schhleppte · schleppet · schlepptte · schlepte · schleptpe
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "Schlepptau" and "schleppte" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary German text, does "Schlepptau" or "schleppte" show up more?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "Schlepptau" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "schleppte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #40,149 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Schlepptau" and "schleppte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "schleppte vs schlüpfte". 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 #40,149 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.