UrteilenvsurteilteWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: Urteilen is a noun, urteilte is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Urteilen” is a noun and “urteilte” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#8,472
“Urteilen” frequency rank
#22,942
“urteilte” frequency rank
31414
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Urteilen urteilte
Definition Dativ Plural des Substantivs Urteil 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs urteilen

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set Urteilen and urteilte apart are highlighted. They share 7 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

8 ch
Urteilen
8 ch
urteilte

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Urteilen is [ˈʊʁtaɪ̯lən] while urteilte is [ˈuːɐ̯ˌtaɪ̯ltə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 31414, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Urteilen is recorded at frequency rank #8,472, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈʊʁtaɪ̯lən]. urteilte is at rank #22,942, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈuːɐ̯ˌtaɪ̯ltə].

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 31414, this pair ranks #1,728,608 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Urteilen vs urteilte

Shared letters: eilrtu. Private to "Urteilen": n. Private to "urteilte": -.

"Urteilen" · 8 letters · shape VCCVVCVC  ·  "urteilte" · 8 letters · shape VCCVVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Urteilenruteilen · uretilen · urrteilen · urteieln · urteilenn · urteillen · urteilne · urtelien
  • urteilteruteilte · uretilte · urrteilte · urteilet · urteillte · urteiltte · urteitle · urtelite

Frequency comparison

Urteilen#8,472
urteilte#22,942

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Urteilen" and "urteilte" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Urteilen" is a noun and "urteilte" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Urteilen" or "urteilte"?
"Urteilen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,472 in our German list, against #22,942 for "urteilte". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering Urteilen vs urteilte

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “Urteilen”; for a verb, it's “urteilte”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “Urteilen” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list