sicherervssichertenWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: sicherer is a adjective, sicherten is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“sicherer” is an adjective and “sicherten” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#4,648
“sicherer” frequency rank
#24,127
“sicherten” frequency rank
28775
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature sicherer sicherten
Definition Nominativ Singular Maskulinum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs sicher 1. Person Plural Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs sichern

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set sicherer and sicherten apart are highlighted. They share 7 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

8 ch
sicherer
9 ch
sicherten

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: sicherer is [ˈzɪçəʁɐ] while sicherten is [ˈzɪçɐtn̩]. 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 (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 28775, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

sicherer is recorded at frequency rank #4,648, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈzɪçəʁɐ]. sicherten is at rank #24,127, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈzɪçɐtn̩].

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 28775, this pair ranks #1,778,833 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of sicherer vs sicherten

Shared letters: cehirs. Private to "sicherer": -. Private to "sicherten": nt.

"sicherer" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC  ·  "sicherten" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • sichererischerer · sciherer · siccherer · sicehrer · sicheerr · sichererr · sicherrer · sichherer
  • sichertenischerten · sciherten · siccherten · sicehrten · sicheretn · sicherrten · sichertenn · sichertne

Frequency comparison

sicherer#4,648
sicherten#24,127

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "sicherer" and "sicherten" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "sicherer" is an adjective and "sicherten" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "sicherer" or "sicherten"?
"sicherer" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,648 in our German list, against #24,127 for "sicherten". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering sicherer vs sicherten

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “sicherer”; for a verb, it's “sicherten”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “sicherer” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list