EntführervsentführteWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: Entführer is a noun, entführte is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

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

#29,555
“Entführer” frequency rank
#30,027
“entführte” frequency rank
59582
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Entführer entführte
Definition jemand, der andere Menschen gegen ihren Willen an einen anderen Ort bringt, um dadurch ein Lösegeld zu erpressen Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs entführt

Where the eye mixes Entführer and entführte

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. Entführer (VCCCVCCVC) and entführte (VCCCVCCCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

9 ch
Entführer
9 ch
entführte

Why the eye confuses Entführer with entführte

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Entführer is [ɛntˈfyːʁɐ] while entführte is [ɛntˈfyːɐ̯tə]. 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 adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 59582, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Entführer is recorded at frequency rank #29,555, classified as anoun, pronounced [ɛntˈfyːʁɐ]. entführte is at rank #30,027, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ɛntˈfyːɐ̯tə].

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 59582, this pair ranks #819,175 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Entführer vs entführte

Shared letters: efhnrtü. Private to "Entführer": -. Private to "entführte": -.

"Entführer" · 9 letters · shape VCCCVCCVC  ·  "entführte" · 9 letters · shape VCCCVCCCV

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Entführer" and "entführte" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Entführer" is a noun and "entführte" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Entführer" or "entführte"?
"Entführer" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #29,555 in our German list, against #30,027 for "entführte". 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 "Entführer" and "entführte" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Entführer" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "entführte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #819,175 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Entführer" and "entführte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "einführte vs entführte". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #819,175 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