sichertevssichertenWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#8,627
“sicherte” frequency rank
#24,127
“sicherten” frequency rank
32754
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature sicherte sicherten
Definition 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs sichern 1. Person Plural Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs sichern

Where the eye mixes sicherte and sicherten

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. sicherte runs 8 letters (CVCCVCCV) against sicherten's 9 (CVCCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

8 ch
sicherte
9 ch
sicherten

Visual trap between sicherte and sicherten

A purely visual mix-up. sicherte ([ˈzɪçɐtə]) and sicherten ([ˈzɪçɐtn̩]) 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) - “sicherte” sits inside “sicherten”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 32754, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

sicherte is recorded at frequency rank #8,627, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈzɪçɐtə]. 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 32754, this pair ranks #1,700,717 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of sicherte vs sicherten

Shared letters: cehirst. Private to "sicherte": -. Private to "sicherten": n.

"sicherte" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCCV  ·  "sicherten" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • sicherte ← ischerte · sciherte · siccherte · sicehrte · sicheret · sicherrte · sichertte · sichetre
  • sicherten ← ischerten · sciherten · siccherten · sicehrten · sicheretn · sicherrten · sichertenn · sichertne

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "sicherte" and "sicherten" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈzɪçɐtə] versus [ˈzɪçɐtn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "sicherte" vs "sicherten" - which ranks higher?
"sicherte" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,627 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.

Useful next steps

Eye-level mix-up between "sicherte" and "sicherten" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "sicherte" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "sicherten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,700,717 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "sicherte" and "sicherten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Schergen vs sicherten". 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 #1,700,717 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