erläutertvserläutertenWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#5,360
“erläutert” frequency rank
#45,906
“erläuterten” frequency rank
51266
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature erläutert erläuterten
Definition Partizip Perfekt des Verbs erläutern Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs erläutert

Where the eye mixes erläutert and erläuterten

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

9 ch
erläutert
11 ch
erläuterten

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: erläutert is [ɛɐ̯ˈlɔɪ̯tɐt] while erläuterten is [ɛɐ̯ˈlɔɪ̯tɐtn̩]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “erläutert” sits inside “erläuterten”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 51266, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

erläutert is recorded at frequency rank #5,360, classified as averb, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈlɔɪ̯tɐt]. erläuterten is at rank #45,906, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈlɔɪ̯tɐtn̩].

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 51266, this pair ranks #1,142,028 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of erläutert vs erläuterten

Shared letters: elrtuä. Private to "erläutert": -. Private to "erläuterten": n.

"erläutert" · 9 letters · shape VCCVVCVCC  ·  "erläuterten" · 11 letters · shape VCCVVCVCCVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "erläutert" and "erläuterten" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "erläutert" is a verb and "erläuterten" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "erläutert" or "erläuterten"?
"erläutert" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,360 in our German list, against #45,906 for "erläuterten". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list