Which to use
“winkte” and “wirkten” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #37,900
- “winkte” frequency rank
- #11,786
- “wirkten” frequency rank
- 49686
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | winkte | wirkten |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs winken | 1. Person Plural Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs wirken |
Where the eye mixes winkte and wirkten
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. winkte runs 6 letters (CVCCCV) against wirkten's 7 (CVCCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between winkte and wirkten
A purely visual mix-up. winkte ([ˈvɪŋktə]) and wirkten ([ˈvɪʁktn̩]) 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 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 49686, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
winkte is recorded at frequency rank #37,900, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈvɪŋktə]. wirkten is at rank #11,786, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈvɪʁktn̩].
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 49686, this pair ranks #1,202,106 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of winkte vs wirkten
Shared letters: eikntw. Private to "winkte": -. Private to "wirkten": r.
"winkte" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCV · "wirkten" · 7 letters · shape CVCCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "winkte" and "wirkten" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "winkte" vs "wirkten" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "winkte" and "wirkten" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "winkte" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "wirkten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,202,106 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "winkte" and "wirkten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "winke vs winkte". 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 #1,202,106 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.