enthaltenvsenthalteneWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: enthalten is a verb, enthaltene is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“enthalten” is a verb and “enthaltene” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#1,658
“enthalten” frequency rank
#19,555
“enthaltene” frequency rank
21213
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature enthalten enthaltene
Definition 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 Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs enthalten

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set enthalten and enthaltene apart are highlighted. They share 9 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

9 ch
enthalten
10 ch
enthaltene

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

enthalten and enthaltene form a confusable pair in the German index, two distinct headwords that are easily confused because they look alike, sound alike, or both. They differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “enthalten” sits inside “enthaltene” - close enough that the eye skips over the difference, far enough that meaning fully diverges. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 21213, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

enthalten is recorded at frequency rank #1,658, classified as averb, pronounced [ɛntˈhaltn̩]. enthaltene is at rank #19,555, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ɛntˈhaltənə].

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 21213, this pair ranks #1,888,912 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Frequency comparison

enthalten#1,658
enthaltene#19,555

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "enthalten" and "enthaltene" be used interchangeably?
No, "enthalten" and "enthaltene" have distinct meanings and cannot be swapped without changing the meaning of a sentence. Understanding the specific definition and context for each word is essential for correct usage.

Remembering enthalten vs enthaltene

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “enthalten”; for an adjective, it's “enthaltene”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “enthalten” 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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list