viertelvsviertesWhich spelling fits?

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

Which to use

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

#2,864
“viertel” frequency rank
#21,836
“viertes” frequency rank
24700
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature viertel viertes
Definition 25 Prozent des Gesamtwertes unbestimmte neutrale Deklination von vierte

Where the eye mixes viertel and viertes

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. viertel and viertes follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

7 ch
viertel
7 ch
viertes

Why the eye confuses viertel with viertes

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: viertel is [ˈfɪʁtl̩] while viertes is [ˈfiːɐ̯təs]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - l in “viertel” becomes s in “viertes”, and the parts of speech differ too (num vs unknown), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 24700, 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]. viertes is at rank #21,836, tagged as anunknown, pronounced [ˈfiːɐ̯təs].

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 24700, this pair ranks #1,843,968 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of viertel vs viertes

Shared letters: eirtv. Private to "viertel": l. Private to "viertes": s.

"viertel" · 7 letters · shape CVVCCVC  ·  "viertes" · 7 letters · shape CVVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • viertel ← ivertel · veirtel · vieretl · vierrtel · viertell · viertle · vierttel · vietrel
  • viertes ← ivertes · veirtes · vierets · vierrtes · viertess · viertse · vierttes · vietres

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "viertel" and "viertes" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "viertel" is a num and "viertes" an unknown, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "viertel" or "viertes"?
"viertel" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,864 in our German list, against #21,836 for "viertes". 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 "viertel" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "viertes" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,843,968 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "viertel" and "viertes" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Viertels vs viertes". 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 #1,843,968 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