erfülltevserfülltenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“erfüllte” and “erfüllten” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#14,280
“erfüllte” frequency rank
#22,703
“erfüllten” frequency rank
36983
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature erfüllte erfüllten
Definition Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs erfüllt Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs erfüllt

Where the eye mixes erfüllte and erfüllten

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. erfüllte runs 8 letters (VCCVCCCV) against erfüllten's 9 (VCCVCCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

8 ch
erfüllte
9 ch
erfüllten

Look-alike desk: erfüllte vs erfüllten

A purely visual mix-up. erfüllte ([ɛɐ̯ˈfʏltə]) and erfüllten ([ɛɐ̯ˈfʏltn̩]) 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 1 extra letter(s) - “erfüllte” sits inside “erfüllten”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 36983, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

erfüllte is recorded at frequency rank #14,280, classified as anadj, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈfʏltə]. erfüllten is at rank #22,703, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈfʏltn̩].

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 36983, this pair ranks #1,601,766 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of erfüllte vs erfüllten

Shared letters: eflrtü. Private to "erfüllte": -. Private to "erfüllten": n.

"erfüllte" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCCCV  ·  "erfüllten" · 9 letters · shape VCCVCCCVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "erfüllte" for "erfüllten" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ɛɐ̯ˈfʏltə] versus [ɛɐ̯ˈfʏltn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "erfüllte" or "erfüllten"?
"erfüllte" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #14,280 in our German list, against #22,703 for "erfüllten". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "erfüllte" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "erfüllten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,601,766 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "erfüllte" and "erfüllten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "erfüllten vs erfülltes". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #1,601,766 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