schütteltvsschüttelteWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#18,057
“schüttelt” frequency rank
#24,918
“schüttelte” frequency rank
42975
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature schüttelt schüttelte
Definition 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs schütteln 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs schütteln

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set schüttelt and schüttelte apart are highlighted. They share 9 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

9 ch
schüttelt
10 ch
schüttelte

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. schüttelt ([ˈʃʏtl̩t]) 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 extra letter(s) - “schüttelt” sits inside “schüttelte”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 42975, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

schüttelt is recorded at frequency rank #18,057, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈʃʏtl̩t]. 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 42975, this pair ranks #1,432,511 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of schüttelt vs schüttelte

Shared letters: cehlstü. Private to "schüttelt": -. Private to "schüttelte": -.

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

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "schüttelt" and "schüttelte" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈʃʏtl̩t] versus [ˈʃʏtl̩tə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "schüttelt" or "schüttelte"?
"schüttelt" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #18,057 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