Which to use
“sollen” and “sollte” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #291
- “sollen” frequency rank
- #163
- “sollte” frequency rank
- 454
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | sollen | sollte |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | um das Erteilen eines Befehls oder Auftrags auszudrücken | 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs sollen |
Where the eye mixes sollen and sollte
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between sollen and sollte
A purely visual mix-up. sollen ([ˈzɔlən]) and sollte ([ˈzɔltə]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 454, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
sollen is recorded at frequency rank #291, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈzɔlən]. sollte is at rank #163, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈzɔltə].
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 454, this pair ranks #2,005,830 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of sollen vs sollte
Shared letters: elos. Private to "sollen": n. Private to "sollte": t.
"sollen" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "sollte" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "sollen" and "sollte" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "sollen" or "sollte" show up more?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "sollen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "sollte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #2,005,830 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "sollen" and "sollte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "sollen vs Stilen". 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 #2,005,830 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.