startetenvsstatteteWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#14,677
“starteten” frequency rank
#46,296
“stattete” frequency rank
60973
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature starteten stattete
Definition 1. Person Plural Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs starten 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs statten

Where the eye mixes starteten and stattete

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. starteten runs 9 letters (CCVCCVCVC) against stattete's 8 (CCVCCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

9 ch
starteten
8 ch
stattete

Why the eye confuses starteten with stattete

A purely visual mix-up. starteten ([ˈʃtaʁtətn̩]) and stattete ([ˈʃtatətə]) 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 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 60973, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

starteten is recorded at frequency rank #14,677, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈʃtaʁtətn̩]. stattete is at rank #46,296, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈʃtatətə].

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 60973, this pair ranks #767,027 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of starteten vs stattete

Shared letters: aest. Private to "starteten": nr. Private to "stattete": -.

"starteten" · 9 letters · shape CCVCCVCVC  ·  "stattete" · 8 letters · shape CCVCCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • starteten ← satrteten · sstarteten · staretten · starrteten · starteetn · startetenn · startetne · startetten
  • stattete ← satttete · sstattete · statete · statette · statteet · stattette · statttee · sttatete

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "starteten" for "stattete" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈʃtaʁtətn̩] versus [ˈʃtatətə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "starteten" or "stattete"?
"starteten" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #14,677 in our German list, against #46,296 for "stattete". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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 "starteten" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "stattete" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #767,027 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "starteten" and "stattete" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "stattet vs stattete". 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 #767,027 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