eröffnenvseröffnetenWhich spelling fits?

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

Which to use

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

#5,586
“eröffnen” frequency rank
#14,559
“eröffneten” frequency rank
20145
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature eröffnen eröffneten
Definition etwas öffentlich zugänglich machen, für Publikum aufmachen Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs eröffnet

Where the eye mixes eröffnen and eröffneten

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. eröffnen runs 8 letters (VCVCCCVC) against eröffneten's 10 (VCVCCCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

8 ch
eröffnen
10 ch
eröffneten

Visual trap between eröffnen and eröffneten

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: eröffnen is [ɛɐ̯ˈʔœfnən] while eröffneten is [ɛɐ̯ˈʔœfnətn̩]. 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 (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 20145, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

eröffnen is recorded at frequency rank #5,586, classified as averb, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈʔœfnən]. eröffneten is at rank #14,559, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈʔœfnətn̩].

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 20145, this pair ranks #1,900,771 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of eröffnen vs eröffneten

Shared letters: efnrö. Private to "eröffnen": -. Private to "eröffneten": t.

"eröffnen" · 8 letters · shape VCVCCCVC  ·  "eröffneten" · 10 letters · shape VCVCCCVCVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "eröffnen" for "eröffneten" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "eröffnen" is a verb and "eröffneten" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "eröffnen" vs "eröffneten" - which ranks higher?
"eröffnen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,586 in our German list, against #14,559 for "eröffneten". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "eröffnen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "eröffneten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,900,771 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "eröffnen" and "eröffneten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "eröffne vs eröffnen". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #1,900,771 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