Which to use
“erhalten” is a verb and “erhaltener” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #418
- “erhalten” frequency rank
- #47,356
- “erhaltener” frequency rank
- 47774
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | erhalten | erhaltener |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | etwas bekommen, empfangen | Nominativ Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs erhalten |
Where the eye mixes erhalten and erhaltener
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. erhalten runs 8 letters (VCCVCCVC) against erhaltener's 10 (VCCVCCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses erhalten with erhaltener
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: erhalten is [ɛɐ̯ˈhaltn̩] while erhaltener is [ɛɐ̯ˈhaltənɐ]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “erhalten” sits inside “erhaltener”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 47774, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
erhalten is recorded at frequency rank #418, classified as averb, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈhaltn̩]. erhaltener is at rank #47,356, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈhaltənɐ].
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 47774, this pair ranks #1,272,493 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of erhalten vs erhaltener
Shared letters: aehlnrt. Private to "erhalten": -. Private to "erhaltener": -.
"erhalten" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCCVC · "erhaltener" · 10 letters · shape VCCVCCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- erhalten ← ehralten · erahlten · erhaletn · erhallten · erhaltenn · erhaltne · erhaltten · erhatlen
- erhaltener ← ehraltener · erahltener · erhaletner · erhalltener · erhalteenr · erhaltenerr · erhaltenner · erhaltenre
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "erhalten" for "erhaltener" ever safe?
Frequency check: "erhalten" vs "erhaltener" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "erhalten" and "erhaltener" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "erhalten" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "erhaltener" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,272,493 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "erhalten" and "erhaltener" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "erhaltener vs erhaltenes". 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 #1,272,493 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.