veraltetvsveraltetenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#15,241
“veraltet” frequency rank
#23,349
“veralteten” frequency rank
38590
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature veraltet veralteten
Definition nicht mehr aktuell Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs veraltet

Where the eye mixes veraltet and veralteten

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. veraltet runs 8 letters (CVCVCCVC) against veralteten's 10 (CVCVCCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

8 ch
veraltet
10 ch
veralteten

Why the eye confuses veraltet with veralteten

A purely visual mix-up. veraltet ([fɛɐ̯ˈʔaltət]) and veralteten ([fɛɐ̯ˈʔaltətn̩]) 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 2 extra letter(s) - “veraltet” sits inside “veralteten”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 38590, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

veraltet is recorded at frequency rank #15,241, classified as anadj, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈʔaltət]. veralteten is at rank #23,349, tagged as anadj, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈʔaltətn̩].

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 38590, this pair ranks #1,559,965 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of veraltet vs veralteten

Shared letters: aelrtv. Private to "veraltet": -. Private to "veralteten": n.

"veraltet" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC  ·  "veralteten" · 10 letters · shape CVCVCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • veraltetevraltet · vearltet · veralett · veralltet · veraltett · veraltte · veralttet · veratlet
  • veraltetenevralteten · vearlteten · veraletten · verallteten · veralteetn · veraltetenn · veraltetne · veraltetten

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "veraltet" for "veralteten" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([fɛɐ̯ˈʔaltət] versus [fɛɐ̯ˈʔaltətn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "veraltet" vs "veralteten" - which ranks higher?
"veraltet" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #15,241 in our German list, against #23,349 for "veralteten". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "veraltet" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "veralteten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,559,965 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "veraltet" and "veralteten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "veraltet vs verhärtet". 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 #1,559,965 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