engesvsEntenConfusable pair

Quick tell: enges is a adjective, Enten is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“enges” is an adjective and “Enten” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#23,912
“enges” frequency rank
#15,072
“Enten” frequency rank
38984
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature enges Enten
Definition Nominativ Singular Neutrum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs eng Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Ente

Where the eye mixes enges and Enten

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

5 ch
enges
5 ch
Enten

Visual trap between enges and Enten

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: enges is [ˈɛŋəs] while Enten is [ˈɛntn̩]. 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 noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 38984, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

enges is recorded at frequency rank #23,912, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈɛŋəs]. Enten is at rank #15,072, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈɛntn̩].

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 38984, this pair ranks #1,549,321 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of enges vs Enten

Shared letters: en. Private to "enges": gs. Private to "Enten": t.

"enges" · 5 letters · shape VCCVC  ·  "Enten" · 5 letters · shape VCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • engesegnes · enegs · engess · engges · engse · ennges · neges
  • Entenenetn · ennten · entenn · entne · etnen

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "enges" for "Enten" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "enges" is an adjective and "Enten" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "enges" or "Enten" show up more?
"Enten" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #15,072 in our German list, against #23,912 for "enges". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "enges" and "Enten" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "enges" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Enten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,549,321 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "enges" and "Enten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Eggers vs enges". 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 #1,549,321 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