Which to use
“empören” is a verb and “empörte” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #44,561
- “empören” frequency rank
- #41,772
- “empörte” frequency rank
- 86333
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | empören | empörte |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | zornig werden, sich ärgern | Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs empört |
Where the eye mixes empören and empörte
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses empören with empörte
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: empören is [ɛmˈpøːʁən] while empörte is [ɛmˈpøːɐ̯tə]. 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 (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 86333, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
empören is recorded at frequency rank #44,561, classified as averb, pronounced [ɛmˈpøːʁən]. empörte is at rank #41,772, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ɛmˈpøːɐ̯tə].
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 86333, this pair ranks #95,243 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of empören vs empörte
Shared letters: emprö. Private to "empören": n. Private to "empörte": t.
"empören" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVC · "empörte" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCCV
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "empören" and "empörte" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary German text, does "empören" or "empörte" show up more?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "empören" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "empörte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #95,243 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "empören" and "empörte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Empirie vs empörte". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #95,243 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.