sorgtevsstörteTell them apart

Which to use

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

#5,882
“sorgte” frequency rank
#23,328
“störte” frequency rank
29210
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature sorgte störte
Definition 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs sorgen 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs stören

Where the eye mixes sorgte and störte

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

6 ch
sorgte
6 ch
störte

Visual trap between sorgte and störte

A purely visual mix-up. sorgte ([ˈzɔʁktə]) and störte ([ˈʃtøːɐ̯tə]) 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 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 29210, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

sorgte is recorded at frequency rank #5,882, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈzɔʁktə]. störte is at rank #23,328, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈʃtøːɐ̯tə].

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 29210, this pair ranks #1,771,042 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of sorgte vs störte

Shared letters: erst. Private to "sorgte": go. Private to "störte": ö.

"sorgte" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCV  ·  "störte" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • sorgteosrgte · sogrte · sorget · sorggte · sorgtte · sorrgte · sortge · srogte

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "sorgte" for "störte" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈzɔʁktə] versus [ˈʃtøːɐ̯tə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "sorgte" or "störte" show up more?
"sorgte" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,882 in our German list, against #23,328 for "störte". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "sorgte" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "störte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,771,042 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "sorgte" and "störte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "storia vs störte". 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 #1,771,042 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