viertelvsviertenWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: viertel is a num, vierten is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“viertel” is a num and “vierten” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#2,864
“viertel” frequency rank
#2,865
“vierten” frequency rank
5729
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature viertel vierten
Definition 25 Prozent des Gesamtwertes Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs vierte

Where the eye mixes viertel and vierten

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.

7 ch
viertel
7 ch
vierten

Look-alike desk: viertel vs vierten

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: viertel is [ˈfɪʁtl̩] while vierten is [ˈfiːɐ̯tn̩]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - l in “viertel” becomes n in “vierten”, and the parts of speech differ too (num vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 5729, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

viertel is recorded at frequency rank #2,864, classified as anum, pronounced [ˈfɪʁtl̩]. vierten is at rank #2,865, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈfiːɐ̯tn̩].

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 5729, this pair ranks #1,993,911 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of viertel vs vierten

Shared letters: eirtv. Private to "viertel": l. Private to "vierten": n.

"viertel" · 7 letters · shape CVVCCVC  ·  "vierten" · 7 letters · shape CVVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • viertelivertel · veirtel · vieretl · vierrtel · viertell · viertle · vierttel · vietrel
  • vierteniverten · veirten · vieretn · vierrten · viertenn · viertne · viertten · vietren

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "viertel" and "vierten" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "viertel" is a num and "vierten" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "viertel" or "vierten"?
"viertel" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,864 in our German list, against #2,865 for "vierten". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "viertel" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "vierten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,993,911 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "viertel" and "vierten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Velten vs vierten". 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 #1,993,911 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