Which to use
“echte” is an adjective and “ehrte” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #1,691
- “echte” frequency rank
- #35,150
- “ehrte” frequency rank
- 36841
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | echte | ehrte |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Nominativ Singular Femininum Positiv der starken Flexion des Adjektivs echt | 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs ehren |
Where the eye mixes echte and ehrte
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses echte with ehrte
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: echte is [ˈɛçtə] while ehrte is [ˈeːɐ̯tə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 36841, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
echte is recorded at frequency rank #1,691, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈɛçtə]. ehrte is at rank #35,150, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈeːɐ̯tə].
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 36841, this pair ranks #1,605,357 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of echte vs ehrte
Shared letters: eht. Private to "echte": c. Private to "ehrte": r.
"echte" · 5 letters · shape VCCCV · "ehrte" · 5 letters · shape VCCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "echte" and "ehrte" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "echte" or "ehrte"?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "echte" and "ehrte" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "echte" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "ehrte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,605,357 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "echte" and "ehrte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ehrte vs Erle". 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 #1,605,357 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.