entfaltenvsenthaltenWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#10,643
“entfalten” frequency rank
#1,658
“enthalten” frequency rank
12301
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature entfalten enthalten
Definition etwas Gefaltetes auspacken so beschaffen sein, dass das eine (mit dem stets nötigen Akkusativ-Objekt Bezeichnete) ein Teil des anderen (des mit dem Subjekt Bezeichneten) ist; einen Inhalt haben; bestehen aus

Where the eye mixes entfalten and enthalten

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. entfalten and enthalten follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCCCVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

9 ch
entfalten
9 ch
enthalten

Look-alike desk: entfalten vs enthalten

A purely visual mix-up. entfalten ([ɛntˈfaltn̩]) and enthalten ([ɛntˈhaltn̩]) 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 a single letter - f in “entfalten” becomes h in “enthalten”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 12301, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

entfalten is recorded at frequency rank #10,643, classified as averb, pronounced [ɛntˈfaltn̩]. enthalten is at rank #1,658, tagged as averb, pronounced [ɛntˈhaltn̩].

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 12301, this pair ranks #1,964,991 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of entfalten vs enthalten

Shared letters: aelnt. Private to "entfalten": f. Private to "enthalten": h.

"entfalten" · 9 letters · shape VCCCVCCVC  ·  "enthalten" · 9 letters · shape VCCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • entfalten ← enftalten · enntfalten · entaflten · entfaletn · entfallten · entfaltenn · entfaltne · entfaltten
  • enthalten ← enhtalten · ennthalten · entahlten · enthaletn · enthallten · enthaltenn · enthaltne · enthaltten

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "entfalten" for "enthalten" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ɛntˈfaltn̩] versus [ɛntˈhaltn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "entfalten" or "enthalten"?
"enthalten" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,658 in our German list, against #10,643 for "entfalten". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "entfalten" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "enthalten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,964,991 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "entfalten" and "enthalten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "entfalten vs entfaltete". 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 #1,964,991 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