viertvsvierteTell them apart

Which to use

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

#25,821
“viert” frequency rank
#3,692
“vierte” frequency rank
29513
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature viert vierte
Definition mit mit einer Gruppe aus vier Individuen etwas machen nach dem beziehungsweise der Dritten kommend; dem beziehungsweise der Fünften vorausgehend

Where the eye mixes viert and vierte

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. viert runs 5 letters (CVVCC) against vierte's 6 (CVVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

5 ch
viert
6 ch
vierte

Why the eye confuses viert with vierte

A purely visual mix-up. viert ([fiːɐ̯t]) and vierte ([ˈfiːɐ̯tə]) 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) - “viert” sits inside “vierte”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 29513, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

viert is recorded at frequency rank #25,821, classified as anum, pronounced [fiːɐ̯t]. vierte is at rank #3,692, tagged as anum, pronounced [ˈfiːɐ̯tə].

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 29513, this pair ranks #1,765,398 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of viert vs vierte

Shared letters: eirtv. Private to "viert": -. Private to "vierte": -.

"viert" · 5 letters · shape CVVCC  ·  "vierte" · 6 letters · shape CVVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • viert ← ivert · veirt · vierrt · viertt · vietr · viret · vviert
  • vierte ← iverte · veirte · vieret · vierrte · viertte · vietre · virete · vvierte

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "viert" for "vierte" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([fiːɐ̯t] versus [ˈfiːɐ̯tə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "viert" or "vierte"?
"vierte" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,692 in our German list, against #25,821 for "viert". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "viert" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "vierte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,765,398 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "viert" and "vierte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "viert vs Viper". 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 #1,765,398 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