enthüllenvsenthüllteConfusable pair

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

Which to use

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

#28,172
“enthüllen” frequency rank
#42,459
“enthüllte” frequency rank
70631
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature enthüllen enthüllte
Definition die Verhüllung, Hülle oder Abdeckung entfernen Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs enthüllt

Where the eye mixes enthüllen and enthüllte

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

9 ch
enthüllen
9 ch
enthüllte

Look-alike desk: enthüllen vs enthüllte

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: enthüllen is [ɛntˈhʏlən] while enthüllte is [ɛntˈhʏltə]. 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 (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 70631, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

enthüllen is recorded at frequency rank #28,172, classified as averb, pronounced [ɛntˈhʏlən]. enthüllte is at rank #42,459, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ɛntˈhʏltə].

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 70631, this pair ranks #440,441 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of enthüllen vs enthüllte

Shared letters: ehlntü. Private to "enthüllen": -. Private to "enthüllte": -.

"enthüllen" · 9 letters · shape VCCCVCCVC  ·  "enthüllte" · 9 letters · shape VCCCVCCCV

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "enthüllen" and "enthüllte" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "enthüllen" is a verb and "enthüllte" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "enthüllen" vs "enthüllte" - which ranks higher?
"enthüllen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #28,172 in our German list, against #42,459 for "enthüllte". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "enthüllen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "enthüllte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #440,441 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "enthüllen" and "enthüllte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "enthalte vs enthüllte". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #440,441 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