erhaltevserhalteneWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#10,268
“erhalte” frequency rank
#10,465
“erhaltene” frequency rank
20733
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature erhalte erhaltene
Definition 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs erhalten Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs erhalten

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set erhalte and erhaltene apart are highlighted. They share 7 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch
erhalte
9 ch
erhaltene

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

erhalte and erhaltene form a confusable pair in the German index, two distinct headwords that are easily confused because they look alike, sound alike, or both. They differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “erhalte” sits inside “erhaltene” - close enough that the eye skips over the difference, far enough that meaning fully diverges. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 20733, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

erhalte is recorded at frequency rank #10,268, classified as averb, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈhaltə]. erhaltene is at rank #10,465, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈhaltənə].

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 20733, this pair ranks #1,894,369 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Frequency comparison

erhalte#10,268
erhaltene#10,465

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "erhalte" and "erhaltene" be used interchangeably?
No, "erhalte" and "erhaltene" have distinct meanings and cannot be swapped without changing the meaning of a sentence. Understanding the specific definition and context for each word is essential for correct usage.

Remembering erhalte vs erhaltene

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “erhalte”; for an adjective, it's “erhaltene”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “erhalte” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list