erstrecktvserstreckteTell them apart

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

Which to use

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

#7,167
“erstreckt” frequency rank
#22,710
“erstreckte” frequency rank
29877
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature erstreckt erstreckte
Definition Partizip Perfekt des Verbs erstrecken Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs erstreckt

Where the eye mixes erstreckt and erstreckte

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence. erstreckt runs 9 letters (VCCCCVCCC) against erstreckte's 10 (VCCCCVCCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

9 ch
erstreckt
10 ch
erstreckte

Visual trap between erstreckt and erstreckte

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: erstreckt is [ɛɐ̯ˈʃtʁɛkt] while erstreckte is [ɛɐ̯ˈʃtʁɛktə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “erstreckt” sits inside “erstreckte”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 29877, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

erstreckt is recorded at frequency rank #7,167, classified as averb, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈʃtʁɛkt]. erstreckte is at rank #22,710, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈʃtʁɛktə].

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 29877, this pair ranks #1,758,541 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of erstreckt vs erstreckte

Shared letters: cekrst. Private to "erstreckt": -. Private to "erstreckte": -.

"erstreckt" · 9 letters · shape VCCCCVCCC  ·  "erstreckte" · 10 letters · shape VCCCCVCCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • erstreckt ← errstreckt · ersrteckt · ersstreckt · ersterckt · erstrcekt · erstrecckt · erstreckkt · erstrecktt
  • erstreckte ← errstreckte · ersrteckte · ersstreckte · ersterckte · erstrcekte · erstrecckte · erstrecket · erstreckkte

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "erstreckt" for "erstreckte" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "erstreckt" is a verb and "erstreckte" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "erstreckt" vs "erstreckte" - which ranks higher?
"erstreckt" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,167 in our German list, against #22,710 for "erstreckte". 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 "erstreckt" and "erstreckte" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "erstreckt" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "erstreckte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,758,541 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "erstreckt" and "erstreckte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "erstrecken vs erstreckte". 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 #1,758,541 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