Which to use
“erwarte” is a verb and “erwartete” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #4,981
- “erwarte” frequency rank
- #8,202
- “erwartete” frequency rank
- 13183
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | erwarte | erwartete |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs erwarten | Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs erwartet |
Where the eye mixes erwarte and erwartete
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. erwarte runs 7 letters (VCCVCCV) against erwartete's 9 (VCCVCCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses erwarte with erwartete
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: erwarte is [ɛɐ̯ˈvaʁtə] while erwartete is [ɛɐ̯ˈvaʁtətə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “erwarte” sits inside “erwartete”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 13183, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
erwarte is recorded at frequency rank #4,981, classified as averb, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈvaʁtə]. erwartete is at rank #8,202, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈvaʁtətə].
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 13183, this pair ranks #1,959,593 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of erwarte vs erwartete
Shared letters: aertw. Private to "erwarte": -. Private to "erwartete": -.
"erwarte" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCCV · "erwartete" · 9 letters · shape VCCVCCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "erwarte" and "erwartete" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary German text, does "erwarte" or "erwartete" show up more?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "erwarte" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "erwartete" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,959,593 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "erwarte" and "erwartete" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "erhärtet vs erwartete". 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 #1,959,593 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.