vermutenvsvermutetenWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: vermuten is a verb, vermuteten is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“vermuten” is a verb and “vermuteten” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#5,325
“vermuten” frequency rank
#24,179
“vermuteten” frequency rank
29504
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature vermuten vermuteten
Definition etwas für glaubhaft oder wahrscheinlich halten Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs vermutet

Where the eye mixes vermuten and vermuteten

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

8 ch
vermuten
10 ch
vermuteten

Visual trap between vermuten and vermuteten

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: vermuten is [fɛɐ̯ˈmuːtn̩] while vermuteten is [fɛɐ̯ˈmuːtətn̩]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 29504, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

vermuten is recorded at frequency rank #5,325, classified as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈmuːtn̩]. vermuteten is at rank #24,179, tagged as anadj, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈmuːtətn̩].

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 29504, this pair ranks #1,765,568 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of vermuten vs vermuteten

Shared letters: emnrtuv. Private to "vermuten": -. Private to "vermuteten": -.

"vermuten" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC  ·  "vermuteten" · 10 letters · shape CVCCVCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • vermuten ← evrmuten · vemruten · vermmuten · vermtuen · vermuetn · vermutenn · vermutne · vermutten
  • vermuteten ← evrmuteten · vemruteten · vermmuteten · vermtueten · vermuetten · vermuteetn · vermutetenn · vermutetne

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "vermuten" for "vermuteten" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "vermuten" is a verb and "vermuteten" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "vermuten" or "vermuteten" show up more?
"vermuten" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,325 in our German list, against #24,179 for "vermuteten". 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 "vermuten" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "vermuteten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,765,568 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "vermuten" and "vermuteten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "vermuten vs verorten". 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 #1,765,568 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