Which to use
“enthalten” and “enthüllen” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #1,658
- “enthalten” frequency rank
- #28,172
- “enthüllen” frequency rank
- 29830
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | enthalten | enthüllen |
|---|---|---|
| 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 | die Verhüllung, Hülle oder Abdeckung entfernen |
Where the eye mixes enthalten and enthüllen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. enthalten and enthüllen follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCCCVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Look-alike desk: enthalten vs enthüllen
A purely visual mix-up. enthalten ([ɛntˈhaltn̩]) and enthüllen ([ɛntˈhʏlən]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 29830, 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]. enthüllen is at rank #28,172, tagged as averb, pronounced [ɛntˈhʏlən].
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 29830, this pair ranks #1,759,468 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of enthalten vs enthüllen
Shared letters: ehlnt. Private to "enthalten": a. Private to "enthüllen": ü.
"enthalten" · 9 letters · shape VCCCVCCVC · "enthüllen" · 9 letters · shape VCCCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- enthalten ← enhtalten · ennthalten · entahlten · enthaletn · enthallten · enthaltenn · enthaltne · enthaltten
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "enthalten" and "enthüllen" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "enthalten" or "enthüllen" show up more?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "enthalten" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "enthüllen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,759,468 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "enthalten" and "enthüllen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "enthüllen vs enthüllte". 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 #1,759,468 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.