EnkelvsEntenConfusable pair

Which to use

“Enkel” and “Enten” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#6,291
“Enkel” frequency rank
#15,072
“Enten” frequency rank
21363
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Enkel Enten
Definition (männliches) Kind des eigenen Sohnes oder der eigenen Tochter Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Ente

Where the eye mixes Enkel and Enten

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. Enkel and Enten follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

5 ch
Enkel
5 ch
Enten

Why the eye confuses Enkel with Enten

A purely visual mix-up. Enkel ([ˈɛŋkl̩]) and Enten ([ˈɛntn̩]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 21363, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Enkel is recorded at frequency rank #6,291, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈɛŋkl̩]. 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 21363, this pair ranks #1,887,158 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Enkel vs Enten

Shared letters: en. Private to "Enkel": kl. Private to "Enten": t.

"Enkel" · 5 letters · shape VCCVC  ·  "Enten" · 5 letters · shape VCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Enkel ← eknel · enekl · enkell · enkkel · enkle · ennkel · nekel
  • Enten ← enetn · ennten · entenn · entne · etnen

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Enkel" and "Enten" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈɛŋkl̩] versus [ˈɛntn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "Enkel" or "Enten" show up more?
"Enkel" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,291 in our German list, against #15,072 for "Enten". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Enkel" 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 #1,887,158 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Enkel" and "Enten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Enten vs Eupen". 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 #1,887,158 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