ernanntevsernenntTell them apart

Quick tell: ernannte is a adjective, ernennt is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

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

#18,226
“ernannte” frequency rank
#34,630
“ernennt” frequency rank
52856
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ernannte ernennt
Definition Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs ernannt 2. Person Plural Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs ernennen

Where the eye mixes ernannte and ernennt

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. ernannte runs 8 letters (VCCVCCCV) against ernennt's 7 (VCCVCCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

8 ch
ernannte
7 ch
ernennt

Look-alike desk: ernannte vs ernennt

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: ernannte is [ɛɐ̯ˈnantə] while ernennt is [ɛɐ̯ˈnɛnt]. 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 (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 52856, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ernannte is recorded at frequency rank #18,226, classified as anadj, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈnantə]. ernennt is at rank #34,630, tagged as averb, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈnɛnt].

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 52856, this pair ranks #1,080,631 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of ernannte vs ernennt

Shared letters: enrt. Private to "ernannte": a. Private to "ernennt": -.

"ernannte" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCCCV  ·  "ernennt" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • ernannteenrannte · erannnte · ernannet · ernanntte · ernante · ernantne · ernnannte · ernnante
  • ernenntenrennt · erennnt · ernenntt · ernent · ernentn · ernnennt · ernnent · errnennt

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "ernannte" and "ernennt" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "ernannte" is an adjective and "ernennt" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "ernannte" or "ernennt" show up more?
"ernannte" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #18,226 in our German list, against #34,630 for "ernennt". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "ernannte" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "ernennt" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,080,631 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "ernannte" and "ernennt" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ernennt vs Ernest". 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 #1,080,631 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