Which to use
“zerstören” is a verb and “zerstörten” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #4,090
- “zerstören” frequency rank
- #13,078
- “zerstörten” frequency rank
- 17168
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | zerstören | zerstörten |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | etwas sehr stark beschädigen und (damit meist) unbrauchbar machen | Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs zerstört |
Where the eye mixes zerstören and zerstörten
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between zerstören and zerstörten
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: zerstören is [t͡sɛɐ̯ˈʃtøːʁən] while zerstörten is [t͡sɛɐ̯ˈʃtøːɐ̯tn̩]. 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 (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 17168, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
zerstören is recorded at frequency rank #4,090, classified as averb, pronounced [t͡sɛɐ̯ˈʃtøːʁən]. zerstörten is at rank #13,078, tagged as anadj, pronounced [t͡sɛɐ̯ˈʃtøːɐ̯tn̩].
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 17168, this pair ranks #1,929,778 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of zerstören vs zerstörten
Shared letters: enrstzö. Private to "zerstören": -. Private to "zerstörten": -.
"zerstören" · 9 letters · shape CVCCCVCVC · "zerstörten" · 10 letters · shape CVCCCVCCVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "zerstören" and "zerstörten" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "zerstören" or "zerstörten" show up more?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "zerstören" and "zerstörten" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "zerstören" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "zerstörten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,929,778 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "zerstören" and "zerstörten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "zerstöre vs zerstörten". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #1,929,778 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.