Which to use
“zerstört” and “zerstörten” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #1,835
- “zerstört” frequency rank
- #13,078
- “zerstörten” frequency rank
- 14913
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | zerstört | zerstörten |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | gewaltsam und mutwillig kaputt gemacht | Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs zerstört |
Where the eye mixes zerstört and zerstörten
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. zerstört runs 8 letters (CVCCCVCC) against zerstörten's 10 (CVCCCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: zerstört vs zerstörten
A purely visual mix-up. zerstört ([t͡sɛɐ̯ˈʃtøːɐ̯t]) and zerstörten ([t͡sɛɐ̯ˈʃtøːɐ̯tn̩]) 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 2 extra letter(s) - “zerstört” sits inside “zerstörten”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 14913, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
zerstört is recorded at frequency rank #1,835, classified as anadj, pronounced [t͡sɛɐ̯ˈʃtøːɐ̯t]. 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 14913, this pair ranks #1,947,801 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of zerstört vs zerstörten
Shared letters: erstzö. Private to "zerstört": -. Private to "zerstörten": n.
"zerstört" · 8 letters · shape CVCCCVCC · "zerstörten" · 10 letters · shape CVCCCVCCVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "zerstört" for "zerstörten" ever safe?
Frequency check: "zerstört" vs "zerstörten" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "zerstört" and "zerstörten" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "zerstört" 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 #1,947,801 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "zerstört" and "zerstörten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "zerstöre vs zerstörten". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #1,947,801 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.