Which to use
“wirkte” and “wirkten” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #4,240
- “wirkte” frequency rank
- #11,786
- “wirkten” frequency rank
- 16026
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | wirkte | wirkten |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs wirken | 1. Person Plural Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs wirken |
Where the eye mixes wirkte and wirkten
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. wirkte 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 wirkte and wirkten
A purely visual mix-up. wirkte ([ˈvɪʁktə]) 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 extra letter(s) - “wirkte” sits inside “wirkten”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 16026, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
wirkte is recorded at frequency rank #4,240, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈvɪʁktə]. 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 16026, this pair ranks #1,939,242 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of wirkte vs wirkten
Shared letters: eikrtw. Private to "wirkte": -. Private to "wirkten": n.
"wirkte" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCV · "wirkten" · 7 letters · shape CVCCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "wirkte" and "wirkten" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "wirkte" or "wirkten" show up more?
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 "wirkte" 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 #1,939,242 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "wirkte" and "wirkten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "warnten vs wirkten". 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 #1,939,242 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.