Which to use
“ertönen” is a verb and “ertönte” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #40,516
- “ertönen” frequency rank
- #45,908
- “ertönte” frequency rank
- 86424
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | ertönen | ertönte |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | als Ton, Klang wahrnehmbar werden | Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs ertönt |
Where the eye mixes ertönen and ertönte
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. ertönen (VCCVCVC) and ertönte (VCCVCCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Visual trap between ertönen and ertönte
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: ertönen is [ɛɐ̯ˈtøːnən] while ertönte is [ɛɐ̯ˈtøːntə]. 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 86424, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
ertönen is recorded at frequency rank #40,516, classified as averb, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈtøːnən]. 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 86424, this pair ranks #93,981 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of ertönen vs ertönte
Shared letters: enrtö. Private to "ertönen": -. Private to "ertönte": -.
"ertönen" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVC · "ertönte" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCCV
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "ertönen" and "ertönte" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "ertönen" or "ertönte"?
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 "ertönen" 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 #93,981 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "ertönen" and "ertönte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Entente vs ertönte". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #93,981 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.