engevsentreWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: enge is a adjective, entre is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“enge” is an adjective and “entre” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#3,724
“enge” frequency rank
#38,711
“entre” frequency rank
42435
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature enge entre
Definition Nominativ Singular Femininum Positiv der starken Flexion des Adjektivs eng 2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs entern

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set enge and entre apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
enge
5 ch
entre

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: enge is [ˈɛŋə] while entre is [ˈɛntʁə]. 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 (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 42435, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

enge is recorded at frequency rank #3,724, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈɛŋə]. entre is at rank #38,711, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈɛntʁə].

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 42435, this pair ranks #1,449,360 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of enge vs entre

Shared letters: en. Private to "enge": g. Private to "entre": rt.

"enge" · 4 letters · shape VCCV  ·  "entre" · 5 letters · shape VCCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • engeegne · eneg · engge · ennge · nege
  • entreenntre · enter · entrre · enttre · etnre · netre

Frequency comparison

enge#3,724
entre#38,711

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "enge" and "entre" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "enge" is an adjective and "entre" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "enge" or "entre"?
"enge" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,724 in our German list, against #38,711 for "entre". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering enge vs entre

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “enge”; for a verb, it's “entre”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “enge” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list