ViertelsvsviertenConfusable pair

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

Which to use

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

#30,853
“Viertels” frequency rank
#2,865
“vierten” frequency rank
33718
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Viertels vierten
Definition Genitiv Singular des Substantivs Viertel Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs vierte

Where the eye mixes Viertels and vierten

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. Viertels runs 8 letters (CVVCCVCC) against vierten's 7 (CVVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

8 ch
Viertels
7 ch
vierten

Look-alike desk: Viertels vs vierten

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Viertels is [ˈfɪʁtl̩s] while vierten is [ˈfiːɐ̯tn̩]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 33718, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Viertels is recorded at frequency rank #30,853, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈfɪʁtl̩s]. 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 33718, this pair ranks #1,679,610 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Viertels vs vierten

Shared letters: eirtv. Private to "Viertels": ls. Private to "vierten": n.

"Viertels" · 8 letters · shape CVVCCVCC  ·  "vierten" · 7 letters · shape CVVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Viertels ← ivertels · veirtels · vieretls · vierrtels · viertells · viertelss · viertesl · viertles
  • vierten ← iverten · veirten · vieretn · vierrten · viertenn · viertne · viertten · vietren

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Viertels" for "vierten" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Viertels" is a noun and "vierten" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "Viertels" vs "vierten" - which ranks higher?
"vierten" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,865 in our German list, against #30,853 for "Viertels". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "Viertels" and "vierten" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Viertels" 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 #1,679,610 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Viertels" and "vierten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Vierteln vs Viertels". 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 #1,679,610 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