erklärtevserklärtesWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#2,245
“erklärte” frequency rank
#48,115
“erklärtes” frequency rank
50360
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature erklärte erklärtes
Definition Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs erklärt Nominativ Singular Neutrum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs erklärt

Where the eye mixes erklärte and erklärtes

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence.

8 ch
erklärte
9 ch
erklärtes

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. erklärte ([ɛɐ̯ˈklɛːɐ̯tə]) and erklärtes ([ɛɐ̯ˈklɛːɐ̯təs]) 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) - “erklärte” sits inside “erklärtes”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 50360, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

erklärte is recorded at frequency rank #2,245, classified as anadj, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈklɛːɐ̯tə]. erklärtes is at rank #48,115, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈklɛːɐ̯təs].

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 50360, this pair ranks #1,176,633 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of erklärte vs erklärtes

Shared letters: eklrtä. Private to "erklärte": -. Private to "erklärtes": s.

"erklärte" · 8 letters · shape VCCCVCCV  ·  "erklärtes" · 9 letters · shape VCCCVCCVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "erklärte" and "erklärtes" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ɛɐ̯ˈklɛːɐ̯tə] versus [ɛɐ̯ˈklɛːɐ̯təs]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "erklärte" or "erklärtes"?
"erklärte" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,245 in our German list, against #48,115 for "erklärtes". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

You've compared "erklärte" and "erklärtes". Here's where to go from here.

  • Full dictionary entry for "erklärte" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "erklärtes" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,176,633 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "erklärte" and "erklärtes" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "erklärtes vs Erspartes". Nearby pair

PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list