EntevsEsterTell them apart

Which to use

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

#10,642
“Ente” frequency rank
#35,172
“Ester” frequency rank
45814
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Ente Ester
Definition kleinerer Wasservogel aus der Familie der Entenvögel (Anatidae), speziell Reaktionsprodukt einer Veresterung; Verknüpfung eines Alkohols mit einer Säure

Where the eye mixes Ente and Ester

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. Ente runs 4 letters (VCCV) against Ester's 5 (VCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

4 ch
Ente
5 ch
Ester

Why the eye confuses Ente with Ester

A purely visual mix-up. Ente ([ˈɛntə]) and Ester ([ˈɛstɐ]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 45814, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Ente is recorded at frequency rank #10,642, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈɛntə]. Ester is at rank #35,172, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈɛstɐ].

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 45814, this pair ranks #1,340,367 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Ente vs Ester

Shared letters: et. Private to "Ente": n. Private to "Ester": rs.

"Ente" · 4 letters · shape VCCV  ·  "Ester" · 5 letters · shape VCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Ente ← enet · ennte · etne
  • Ester ← esetr · esster · esterr · estre · estter · etser · seter

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Ente" and "Ester" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈɛntə] versus [ˈɛstɐ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "Ente" or "Ester" show up more?
"Ente" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,642 in our German list, against #35,172 for "Ester". 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 "Ente" and "Ester" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Ente" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Ester" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,340,367 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Ente" and "Ester" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Easter vs Ester". 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 #1,340,367 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