wütendvswüteteWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: wütend is a adjective, wütete is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“wütend” is an adjective and “wütete” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#5,134
“wütend” frequency rank
#45,055
“wütete” frequency rank
50189
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature wütend wütete
Definition sich in einem Zustand der Wut befindend, einen erregten Gemütszustand habend 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs wüten

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set wütend and wütete apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
wütend
6 ch
wütete

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: wütend is [ˈvyːtn̩t] while wütete is [ˈvyːtətə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 50189, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

wütend is recorded at frequency rank #5,134, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈvyːtn̩t]. wütete is at rank #45,055, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈvyːtətə].

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 50189, this pair ranks #1,183,212 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of wütend vs wütete

Shared letters: etwü. Private to "wütend": dn. Private to "wütete": -.

"wütend" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC  ·  "wütete" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV

Frequency comparison

wütend#5,134
wütete#45,055

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "wütend" and "wütete" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "wütend" is an adjective and "wütete" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "wütend" or "wütete"?
"wütend" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,134 in our German list, against #45,055 for "wütete". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering wütend vs wütete

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “wütend”; for a verb, it's “wütete”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “wütend” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list