erhaltenevserhaltenerWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#10,465
“erhaltene” frequency rank
#47,356
“erhaltener” frequency rank
57821
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature erhaltene erhaltener
Definition Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs erhalten Nominativ Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs erhalten

Where the eye mixes erhaltene and erhaltener

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence.

9 ch
erhaltene
10 ch
erhaltener

Why the eye confuses erhaltene with erhaltener

A purely visual mix-up. erhaltene ([ɛɐ̯ˈhaltənə]) and erhaltener ([ɛɐ̯ˈhaltənɐ]) 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) - “erhaltene” sits inside “erhaltener”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 57821, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

erhaltene is recorded at frequency rank #10,465, classified as anadj, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈhaltənə]. 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 57821, this pair ranks #886,488 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of erhaltene vs erhaltener

Shared letters: aehlnrt. Private to "erhaltene": -. Private to "erhaltener": -.

"erhaltene" · 9 letters · shape VCCVCCVCV  ·  "erhaltener" · 10 letters · shape VCCVCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • erhalteneehraltene · erahltene · erhaletne · erhalltene · erhalteen · erhaltnee · erhalttene · erhatlene
  • erhaltenerehraltener · erahltener · erhaletner · erhalltener · erhalteenr · erhaltenerr · erhaltenner · erhaltenre

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "erhaltene" for "erhaltener" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ɛɐ̯ˈhaltənə] versus [ɛɐ̯ˈhaltənɐ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "erhaltene" vs "erhaltener" - which ranks higher?
"erhaltene" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,465 in our German list, against #47,356 for "erhaltener". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "erhaltene" 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 #886,488 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "erhaltene" 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 #886,488 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