ebnenvserntenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#41,123
“ebnen” frequency rank
#12,066
“ernten” frequency rank
53189
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ebnen ernten
Definition etwas auf eine Ebene oder die gleiche Höhe bringen; eben machen Nutzpflanzen von den Feldern einholen

Where the eye mixes ebnen and ernten

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

5 ch
ebnen
6 ch
ernten

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. ebnen ([ˈeːbnən]) and ernten ([ˈɛʁntn̩]) 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 53189, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ebnen is recorded at frequency rank #41,123, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈeːbnən]. ernten is at rank #12,066, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈɛʁntn̩].

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 53189, this pair ranks #1,067,745 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of ebnen vs ernten

Shared letters: en. Private to "ebnen": b. Private to "ernten": rt.

"ebnen" · 5 letters · shape VCCVC  ·  "ernten" · 6 letters · shape VCCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • ebnenbenen · ebbnen · ebnenn · ebnne · ebnnen
  • erntenenrten · ernetn · ernnten · erntenn · erntne · erntten · errnten · ertnen

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "ebnen" and "ernten" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈeːbnən] versus [ˈɛʁntn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "ebnen" or "ernten"?
"ernten" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #12,066 in our German list, against #41,123 for "ebnen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

You've compared "ebnen" and "ernten". Here's where to go from here.

  • Full dictionary entry for "ebnen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "ernten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,067,745 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "ebnen" and "ernten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ebnen vs Eupen". 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

PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list