Which to use
“enthielt” and “enthielten” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #9,532
- “enthielt” frequency rank
- #19,200
- “enthielten” frequency rank
- 28732
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | enthielt | enthielten |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs enthalten | 1. Person Plural Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs enthalten |
Where the eye mixes enthielt and enthielten
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. enthielt runs 8 letters (VCCCVVCC) against enthielten's 10 (VCCCVVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses enthielt with enthielten
A purely visual mix-up. enthielt ([ɛntˈhiːlt]) and enthielten ([ɛntˈhiːltn̩]) 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 2 extra letter(s) - “enthielt” sits inside “enthielten”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 28732, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
enthielt is recorded at frequency rank #9,532, classified as averb, pronounced [ɛntˈhiːlt]. enthielten is at rank #19,200, tagged as averb, pronounced [ɛntˈhiːltn̩].
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 28732, this pair ranks #1,779,579 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of enthielt vs enthielten
Shared letters: ehilnt. Private to "enthielt": -. Private to "enthielten": -.
"enthielt" · 8 letters · shape VCCCVVCC · "enthielten" · 10 letters · shape VCCCVVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- enthielt ← enhtielt · ennthielt · entheilt · enthhielt · enthiellt · enthieltt · enthietl · enthilet
- enthielten ← enhtielten · ennthielten · entheilten · enthhielten · enthieletn · enthiellten · enthieltenn · enthieltne
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "enthielt" and "enthielten" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "enthielt" or "enthielten" show up more?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "enthielt" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "enthielten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,779,579 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "enthielt" and "enthielten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "entfiel vs enthielt". 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 #1,779,579 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.