Which to use
“sollten” and “sorgten” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #347
- “sollten” frequency rank
- #12,174
- “sorgten” frequency rank
- 12521
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | sollten | sorgten |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 1. Person Plural Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs sollen | 1. Person Plural Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs sorgen |
Where the eye mixes sollten and sorgten
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. sollten and sorgten follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Look-alike desk: sollten vs sorgten
A purely visual mix-up. sollten ([ˈzɔltn̩]) and sorgten ([ˈzɔʁktn̩]) 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 12521, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
sollten is recorded at frequency rank #347, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈzɔltn̩]. sorgten is at rank #12,174, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈzɔʁktn̩].
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 12521, this pair ranks #1,963,681 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of sollten vs sorgten
Shared letters: enost. Private to "sollten": l. Private to "sorgten": gr.
"sollten" · 7 letters · shape CVCCCVC · "sorgten" · 7 letters · shape CVCCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "sollten" and "sorgten" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "sollten" or "sorgten" show up more?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "sollten" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "sorgten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,963,681 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "sollten" and "sorgten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Sonaten vs sorgten". 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 #1,963,681 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.