trenntvstrennteWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#7,831
“trennt” frequency rank
#17,431
“trennte” frequency rank
25262
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature trennt trennte
Definition 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs trennen 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs trennen

Where the eye mixes trennt and trennte

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. trennt runs 6 letters (CCVCCC) against trennte's 7 (CCVCCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
trennt
7 ch
trennte

Look-alike desk: trennt vs trennte

A purely visual mix-up. trennt ([tʁɛnt]) and trennte ([ˈtʁɛntə]) 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) - “trennt” sits inside “trennte”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 25262, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

trennt is recorded at frequency rank #7,831, classified as averb, pronounced [tʁɛnt]. trennte is at rank #17,431, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈtʁɛntə].

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 25262, this pair ranks #1,835,842 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of trennt vs trennte

Shared letters: enrt. Private to "trennt": -. Private to "trennte": -.

"trennt" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCC  ·  "trennte" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • trennt ← rtennt · ternnt · trenntt · trent · trentn · trnent · trrennt · ttrennt
  • trennte ← rtennte · ternnte · trennet · trenntte · trente · trentne · trnente · trrennte

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "trennt" and "trennte" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([tʁɛnt] versus [ˈtʁɛntə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "trennt" or "trennte" show up more?
"trennt" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,831 in our German list, against #17,431 for "trennte". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "trennt" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "trennte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,835,842 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "trennt" and "trennte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "trenne vs trennte". 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 #1,835,842 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