zitierenvszitiertTell them apart

Which to use

“zitieren” and “zitiert” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#12,423
“zitieren” frequency rank
#4,320
“zitiert” frequency rank
16743
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature zitieren zitiert
Definition jemandes geschriebene oder gesprochene Worte exakt wiedergeben; Texte aus einem Werk verwenden 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs zitieren

Where the eye mixes zitieren and zitiert

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. zitieren runs 8 letters (CVCVVCVC) against zitiert's 7 (CVCVVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

8 ch
zitieren
7 ch
zitiert

Why the eye confuses zitieren with zitiert

A purely visual mix-up. zitieren ([ˌt͡siˈtiːʁən]) and zitiert ([ˌt͡siˈtiːɐ̯t]) 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 16743, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

zitieren is recorded at frequency rank #12,423, classified as averb, pronounced [ˌt͡siˈtiːʁən]. zitiert is at rank #4,320, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˌt͡siˈtiːɐ̯t].

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 16743, this pair ranks #1,933,333 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of zitieren vs zitiert

Shared letters: eirtz. Private to "zitieren": n. Private to "zitiert": -.

"zitieren" · 8 letters · shape CVCVVCVC  ·  "zitiert" · 7 letters · shape CVCVVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • zitiereniztieren · ziiteren · ziteiren · zitieern · zitierenn · zitierne · zitierren · zitireen
  • zitiertiztiert · ziitert · ziteirt · zitierrt · zitiertt · zitietr · zitiret · zittiert

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "zitieren" and "zitiert" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˌt͡siˈtiːʁən] versus [ˌt͡siˈtiːɐ̯t]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "zitieren" or "zitiert"?
"zitiert" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,320 in our German list, against #12,423 for "zitieren". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Eye-level mix-up between "zitieren" and "zitiert" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "zitieren" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "zitiert" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,933,333 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "zitieren" and "zitiert" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "zitiert vs zitterte". 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 #1,933,333 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list