eiltenvsEllenTell them apart

Quick tell: eilten is a verb, Ellen is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“eilten” is a verb and “Ellen” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#44,547
“eilten” frequency rank
#9,181
“Ellen” frequency rank
53728
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature eilten Ellen
Definition 1. Person Plural Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs eilen Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Elle

Where the eye mixes eilten and Ellen

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

6 ch
eilten
5 ch
Ellen

Look-alike desk: eilten vs Ellen

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: eilten is [ˈaɪ̯ltn̩] while Ellen is [ˈɛlən]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 53728, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

eilten is recorded at frequency rank #44,547, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈaɪ̯ltn̩]. Ellen is at rank #9,181, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈɛlən].

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 53728, this pair ranks #1,046,654 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of eilten vs Ellen

Shared letters: eln. Private to "eilten": it. Private to "Ellen": -.

"eilten" · 6 letters · shape VVCCVC  ·  "Ellen" · 5 letters · shape VCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • eilteneiletn · eillten · eiltenn · eiltne · eiltten · eitlen · ielten
  • Elleneleln · elen · ellenn · ellne · lelen

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "eilten" for "Ellen" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "eilten" is a verb and "Ellen" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "eilten" or "Ellen"?
"Ellen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #9,181 in our German list, against #44,547 for "eilten". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "eilten" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Ellen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,046,654 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "eilten" and "Ellen" 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 #1,046,654 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