Which to use
“Elfer” is a noun and “elften” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #30,527
- “Elfer” frequency rank
- #18,868
- “elften” frequency rank
- 49395
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Elfer | elften |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | etwas mit Größe, Wert, Maß oder Nummer 11 | Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs elfte |
Where the eye mixes Elfer and elften
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. Elfer runs 5 letters (VCCVC) against elften's 6 (VCCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: Elfer vs elften
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Elfer is [ˈɛlfɐ] while elften is [ˈɛlftn̩]. 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 (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 49395, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Elfer is recorded at frequency rank #30,527, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈɛlfɐ]. elften is at rank #18,868, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈɛlftn̩].
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 49395, this pair ranks #1,213,153 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of Elfer vs elften
Shared letters: efl. Private to "Elfer": r. Private to "elften": nt.
"Elfer" · 5 letters · shape VCCVC · "elften" · 6 letters · shape VCCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "Elfer" for "elften" ever safe?
Which is more common, "Elfer" or "elften"?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "Elfer" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "elften" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,213,153 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Elfer" and "elften" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Efeu vs Elfer". 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 #1,213,153 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.