ErntevsertönteWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: Ernte is a noun, ertönte is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Ernte” is a noun and “ertönte” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#7,313
“Ernte” frequency rank
#45,908
“ertönte” frequency rank
53221
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Ernte ertönte
Definition sämtliche Arbeiten, die zum Einbringen landwirtschaftlicher Gewächse und Früchte notwendig sind Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs ertönt

Where the eye mixes Ernte and ertönte

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. Ernte runs 5 letters (VCCCV) against ertönte's 7 (VCCVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

5 ch
Ernte
7 ch
ertönte

Why the eye confuses Ernte with ertönte

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Ernte is [ˈɛʁntə] while ertönte is [ɛɐ̯ˈtøːntə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 53221, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Ernte is recorded at frequency rank #7,313, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈɛʁntə]. ertönte is at rank #45,908, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈtøːntə].

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 53221, this pair ranks #1,066,507 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Ernte vs ertönte

Shared letters: enrt. Private to "Ernte": -. Private to "ertönte": ö.

"Ernte" · 5 letters · shape VCCCV  ·  "ertönte" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Ernte ← enrte · ernet · ernnte · erntte · errnte · ertne

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Ernte" for "ertönte" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Ernte" is a noun and "ertönte" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Ernte" or "ertönte"?
"Ernte" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,313 in our German list, against #45,908 for "ertönte". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Eye-level mix-up between "Ernte" and "ertönte" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Ernte" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "ertönte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,066,507 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Ernte" and "ertönte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Entente vs ertönte". 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 #1,066,507 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