schüttelnvsschüttelteWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#10,169
“schütteln” frequency rank
#24,918
“schüttelte” frequency rank
35087
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature schütteln schüttelte
Definition einen Gegenstand oder eine Person schnell hin- und herbewegen 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs schütteln

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set schütteln and schüttelte apart are highlighted. They share 8 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

9 ch
schütteln
10 ch
schüttelte

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. schütteln ([ˈʃʏtl̩n]) and schüttelte ([ˈʃʏtl̩tə]) 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 35087, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

schütteln is recorded at frequency rank #10,169, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈʃʏtl̩n]. schüttelte is at rank #24,918, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈʃʏtl̩tə].

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 35087, this pair ranks #1,648,410 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of schütteln vs schüttelte

Shared letters: cehlstü. Private to "schütteln": n. Private to "schüttelte": -.

"schütteln" · 9 letters · shape CCCVCCVCC  ·  "schüttelte" · 10 letters · shape CCCVCCVCCV

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "schütteln" and "schüttelte" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈʃʏtl̩n] versus [ˈʃʏtl̩tə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "schütteln" or "schüttelte"?
"schütteln" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,169 in our German list, against #24,918 for "schüttelte". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list