Which to use
“engere” is an adjective and “ergebe” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #19,199
- “engere” frequency rank
- #29,110
- “ergebe” frequency rank
- 48309
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | engere | ergebe |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Komparativs des Adjektivs eng | 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs ergeben |
Where the eye mixes engere and ergebe
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses engere with ergebe
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: engere is [ˈɛŋəʁə] while ergebe is [ɛɐ̯ˈɡeːbə]. 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 48309, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
engere is recorded at frequency rank #19,199, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈɛŋəʁə]. ergebe is at rank #29,110, tagged as averb, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈɡeːbə].
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 48309, this pair ranks #1,253,297 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of engere vs ergebe
Shared letters: egr. Private to "engere": n. Private to "ergebe": b.
"engere" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCV · "ergebe" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "engere" for "ergebe" ever safe?
Which is more common, "engere" or "ergebe"?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "engere" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "ergebe" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,253,297 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "engere" and "ergebe" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ergebe vs erhebe". 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 #1,253,297 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.