Which to use
“erhoffen” is a verb and “erhofften” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #22,704
- “erhoffen” frequency rank
- #28,636
- “erhofften” frequency rank
- 51340
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | erhoffen | erhofften |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | etwas zuversichtlich erwarten (meistens ein Ereignis), auf dessen Kommen vertrauen | Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs erhofft |
Where the eye mixes erhoffen and erhofften
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: erhoffen vs erhofften
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: erhoffen is [ɛɐ̯ˈhɔfn̩] while erhofften is [ɛɐ̯ˈhɔftn̩]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 51340, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
erhoffen is recorded at frequency rank #22,704, classified as averb, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈhɔfn̩]. erhofften is at rank #28,636, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈhɔftn̩].
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 51340, this pair ranks #1,139,206 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of erhoffen vs erhofften
Shared letters: efhnor. Private to "erhoffen": -. Private to "erhofften": t.
"erhoffen" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCCVC · "erhofften" · 9 letters · shape VCCVCCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "erhoffen" and "erhofften" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "erhoffen" or "erhofften"?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "erhoffen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "erhofften" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,139,206 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "erhoffen" and "erhofften" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "erhoffte vs erhofften". 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 #1,139,206 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.