erhaltenvserhaltenesWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#418
“erhalten” frequency rank
#43,845
“erhaltenes” frequency rank
44263
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature erhalten erhaltenes
Definition etwas bekommen, empfangen Nominativ Singular Neutrum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs erhalten

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set erhalten and erhaltenes apart are highlighted. They share 8 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

8 ch
erhalten
10 ch
erhaltenes

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: erhalten is [ɛɐ̯ˈhaltn̩] while erhaltenes is [ɛɐ̯ˈhaltənəs]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “erhalten” sits inside “erhaltenes”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 44263, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

erhalten is recorded at frequency rank #418, classified as averb, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈhaltn̩]. erhaltenes is at rank #43,845, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈhaltənəs].

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 44263, this pair ranks #1,391,772 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of erhalten vs erhaltenes

Shared letters: aehlnrt. Private to "erhalten": -. Private to "erhaltenes": s.

"erhalten" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCCVC  ·  "erhaltenes" · 10 letters · shape VCCVCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • erhaltenehralten · erahlten · erhaletn · erhallten · erhaltenn · erhaltne · erhaltten · erhatlen
  • erhaltenesehraltenes · erahltenes · erhaletnes · erhalltenes · erhalteens · erhalteness · erhaltennes · erhaltense

Frequency comparison

erhalten#418
erhaltenes#43,845

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "erhalten" and "erhaltenes" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "erhalten" is a verb and "erhaltenes" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "erhalten" or "erhaltenes"?
"erhalten" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #418 in our German list, against #43,845 for "erhaltenes". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering erhalten vs erhaltenes

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “erhalten”; for an adjective, it's “erhaltenes”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “erhalten” 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