Which to use
“zitiert” is a verb and “zitierten” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #4,320
- “zitiert” frequency rank
- #17,194
- “zitierten” frequency rank
- 21514
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | zitiert | zitierten |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs zitieren | Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs zitiert |
Where the eye mixes zitiert and zitierten
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. zitiert runs 7 letters (CVCVVCC) against zitierten's 9 (CVCVVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: zitiert vs zitierten
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: zitiert is [ˌt͡siˈtiːɐ̯t] while zitierten is [ˌt͡siˈtiːɐ̯tn̩]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “zitiert” sits inside “zitierten”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 21514, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
zitiert is recorded at frequency rank #4,320, classified as averb, pronounced [ˌt͡siˈtiːɐ̯t]. zitierten is at rank #17,194, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˌt͡siˈtiːɐ̯tn̩].
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 21514, this pair ranks #1,885,392 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of zitiert vs zitierten
Shared letters: eirtz. Private to "zitiert": -. Private to "zitierten": n.
"zitiert" · 7 letters · shape CVCVVCC · "zitierten" · 9 letters · shape CVCVVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "zitiert" and "zitierten" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "zitiert" or "zitierten" show up more?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "zitiert" and "zitierten" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "zitiert" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "zitierten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,885,392 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "zitiert" and "zitierten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "zitierten 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 #1,885,392 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.