viermalvsviertelWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#10,394
“viermal” frequency rank
#2,864
“viertel” frequency rank
13258
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature viermal viertel
Definition mit vier vervielfacht; dreimal und ein weiteres Mal; vierfach vorgekommen, durchgeführt 25 Prozent des Gesamtwertes

Where the eye mixes viermal and viertel

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. viermal and viertel follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

7 ch
viermal
7 ch
viertel

Visual trap between viermal and viertel

A purely visual mix-up. viermal ([ˈfiːɐ̯maːl]) and viertel ([ˈfɪʁtl̩]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 13258, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

viermal is recorded at frequency rank #10,394, classified as anum, pronounced [ˈfiːɐ̯maːl]. viertel is at rank #2,864, tagged as anum, pronounced [ˈfɪʁtl̩].

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 13258, this pair ranks #1,959,098 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of viermal vs viertel

Shared letters: eilrv. Private to "viermal": am. Private to "viertel": t.

"viermal" · 7 letters · shape CVVCCVC  ·  "viertel" · 7 letters · shape CVVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • viermal ← ivermal · veirmal · viemral · vieraml · viermall · viermla · viermmal · vierrmal
  • viertel ← ivertel · veirtel · vieretl · vierrtel · viertell · viertle · vierttel · vietrel

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "viermal" and "viertel" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈfiːɐ̯maːl] versus [ˈfɪʁtl̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "viermal" vs "viertel" - which ranks higher?
"viertel" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,864 in our German list, against #10,394 for "viermal". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "viermal" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "viertel" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,959,098 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "viermal" and "viertel" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "viermal vs viral". 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 #1,959,098 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