erklärtenvserklärtesWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#10,269
“erklärten” frequency rank
#48,115
“erklärtes” frequency rank
58384
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature erklärten erklärtes
Definition Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs erklärt Nominativ Singular Neutrum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs erklärt

Where the eye mixes erklärten and erklärtes

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. erklärten and erklärtes follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCCCVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

9 ch
erklärten
9 ch
erklärtes

Look-alike desk: erklärten vs erklärtes

A purely visual mix-up. erklärten ([ɛɐ̯ˈklɛːɐ̯tn̩]) 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 a single letter - n in “erklärten” becomes s in “erklärtes”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 58384, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

erklärten is recorded at frequency rank #10,269, classified as anadj, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈklɛːɐ̯tn̩]. 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 58384, this pair ranks #864,848 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of erklärten vs erklärtes

Shared letters: eklrtä. Private to "erklärten": n. Private to "erklärtes": s.

"erklärten" · 9 letters · shape VCCCVCCVC  ·  "erklärtes" · 9 letters · shape VCCCVCCVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "erklärten" and "erklärtes" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ɛɐ̯ˈklɛːɐ̯tn̩] versus [ɛɐ̯ˈklɛːɐ̯təs]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "erklärten" vs "erklärtes" - which ranks higher?
"erklärten" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,269 in our German list, against #48,115 for "erklärtes". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "erklärten" 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 #864,848 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "erklärten" and "erklärtes" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "erklärtes vs Erspartes". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #864,848 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