Which to use
“ermöglichen” is a verb and “ermöglichte” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #2,818
- “ermöglichen” frequency rank
- #13,354
- “ermöglichte” frequency rank
- 16172
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | ermöglichen | ermöglichte |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | die Voraussetzungen für etwas herstellen; etwas möglich machen | Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs ermöglicht |
Where the eye mixes ermöglichen and ermöglichte
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 10 letters in sequence. ermöglichen (VCCVCCVCCVC) and ermöglichte (VCCVCCVCCCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Look-alike desk: ermöglichen vs ermöglichte
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: ermöglichen is [ɛɐ̯ˈmøːklɪçn̩] while ermöglichte is [ɛɐ̯ˈmøːklɪçtə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 16172, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
ermöglichen is recorded at frequency rank #2,818, classified as averb, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈmøːklɪçn̩]. ermöglichte is at rank #13,354, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈmøːklɪçtə].
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 16172, this pair ranks #1,937,980 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of ermöglichen vs ermöglichte
Shared letters: ceghilmrö. Private to "ermöglichen": n. Private to "ermöglichte": t.
"ermöglichen" · 11 letters · shape VCCVCCVCCVC · "ermöglichte" · 11 letters · shape VCCVCCVCCCV
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "ermöglichen" and "ermöglichte" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary German text, does "ermöglichen" or "ermöglichte" show up more?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "ermöglichen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "ermöglichte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,937,980 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "ermöglichen" and "ermöglichte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ermöglichte vs ermöglichten". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #1,937,980 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.