entscheidenvsentschiedenWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#1,053
“entscheiden” frequency rank
#1,413
“entschieden” frequency rank
2466
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature entscheiden entschieden
Definition eine Auswahl treffen, sich bestimmen von etwas fest überzeugt; nicht leicht abzubringen

Where the eye mixes entscheiden and entschieden

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 10 letters in sequence. entscheiden and entschieden follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCCCCCVVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

11 ch
entscheiden
11 ch
entschieden

Why the eye confuses entscheiden with entschieden

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: entscheiden is [ɛntˈʃaɪ̯dn̩] while entschieden is [ɛntˈʃiːdn̩]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ only by swapping two adjacent letters (ei ↔ ie) - a transposition the eye reads straight past, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 2466, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

entscheiden is recorded at frequency rank #1,053, classified as averb, pronounced [ɛntˈʃaɪ̯dn̩]. entschieden is at rank #1,413, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ɛntˈʃiːdn̩].

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 2466, this pair ranks #2,002,286 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of entscheiden vs entschieden

Shared letters: cdehinst. Private to "entscheiden": -. Private to "entschieden": -.

"entscheiden" · 11 letters · shape VCCCCCVVCVC  ·  "entschieden" · 11 letters · shape VCCCCCVVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • entscheiden ← enntscheiden · enstcheiden · entcsheiden · entsccheiden · entscehiden · entschedien · entscheidden · entscheidenn
  • entschieden ← enntschieden · enstchieden · entcshieden · entscchieden · entschhieden · entschideen · entschiedden · entschiedenn

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "entscheiden" and "entschieden" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "entscheiden" is a verb and "entschieden" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "entscheiden" or "entschieden"?
"entscheiden" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,053 in our German list, against #1,413 for "entschieden". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "entscheiden" and "entschieden" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "entscheiden" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "entschieden" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #2,002,286 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "entscheiden" and "entschieden" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "entschieden vs entschiedener". 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 #2,002,286 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