EntenvsentreWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#15,072
“Enten” frequency rank
#38,711
“entre” frequency rank
53783
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Enten entre
Definition Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Ente 2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs entern

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set Enten and entre apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
Enten
5 ch
entre

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Enten is [ˈɛntn̩] while entre is [ˈɛntʁə]. 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 (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 53783, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Enten is recorded at frequency rank #15,072, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈɛntn̩]. 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 53783, this pair ranks #1,044,395 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Enten vs entre

Shared letters: ent. Private to "Enten": -. Private to "entre": r.

"Enten" · 5 letters · shape VCCVC  ·  "entre" · 5 letters · shape VCCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Entenenetn · ennten · entenn · entne · etnen
  • entreenntre · enter · entrre · enttre · etnre · netre

Frequency comparison

Enten#15,072
entre#38,711

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Enten" and "entre" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Enten" is a noun and "entre" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Enten" or "entre"?
"Enten" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #15,072 in our German list, against #38,711 for "entre". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering Enten vs entre

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “Enten”; for a verb, it's “entre”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “Enten” 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