Which to use
“echten” is an adjective and “eilten” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #2,539
- “echten” frequency rank
- #44,547
- “eilten” frequency rank
- 47086
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | echten | eilten |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs echt | 1. Person Plural Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs eilen |
Where the eye mixes echten and eilten
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between echten and eilten
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: echten is [ˈɛçtn̩] while eilten is [ˈaɪ̯ltn̩]. 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 47086, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
echten is recorded at frequency rank #2,539, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈɛçtn̩]. eilten is at rank #44,547, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈaɪ̯ltn̩].
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 47086, this pair ranks #1,296,650 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of echten vs eilten
Shared letters: ent. Private to "echten": ch. Private to "eilten": il.
"echten" · 6 letters · shape VCCCVC · "eilten" · 6 letters · shape VVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "echten" and "eilten" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary German text, does "echten" or "eilten" show up more?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "echten" and "eilten" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "echten" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "eilten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,296,650 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "echten" and "eilten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "eilten vs Exoten". 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 #1,296,650 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.