Which to use
“ereignen” is a verb and “ereignete” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #41,143
- “ereignen” frequency rank
- #16,134
- “ereignete” frequency rank
- 57277
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | ereignen | ereignete |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | geschehen | Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs ereignet |
Where the eye mixes ereignen and ereignete
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. ereignen runs 8 letters (VCVVCCVC) against ereignete's 9 (VCVVCCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses ereignen with ereignete
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: ereignen is [ɛɐ̯ˈʔaɪ̯ɡnən] while ereignete is [ɛɐ̯ˈʔaɪ̯ɡnətə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 57277, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
ereignen is recorded at frequency rank #41,143, classified as averb, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈʔaɪ̯ɡnən]. ereignete is at rank #16,134, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈʔaɪ̯ɡnətə].
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 57277, this pair ranks #907,565 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of ereignen vs ereignete
Shared letters: eginr. Private to "ereignen": -. Private to "ereignete": t.
"ereignen" · 8 letters · shape VCVVCCVC · "ereignete" · 9 letters · shape VCVVCCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "ereignen" for "ereignete" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "ereignen" or "ereignete" 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 "ereignen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "ereignete" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #907,565 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "ereignen" and "ereignete" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ereignen vs ereigneten". 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 #907,565 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.