erweiternvserweiterteWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#6,294
“erweitern” frequency rank
#8,049
“erweiterte” frequency rank
14343
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature erweitern erweiterte
Definition vergrößern, weiten Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs erweitert

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set erweitern and erweiterte apart are highlighted. They share 8 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

9 ch
erweitern
10 ch
erweiterte

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: erweitern is [ɛɐ̯ˈvaɪ̯tɐn] while erweiterte is [ɛɐ̯ˈvaɪ̯tɐtə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 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 14343, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

erweitern is recorded at frequency rank #6,294, classified as averb, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈvaɪ̯tɐn]. erweiterte is at rank #8,049, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈvaɪ̯tɐtə].

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 14343, this pair ranks #1,951,858 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of erweitern vs erweiterte

Shared letters: eirtw. Private to "erweitern": n. Private to "erweiterte": -.

"erweitern" · 9 letters · shape VCCVVCVCC  ·  "erweiterte" · 10 letters · shape VCCVVCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • erweiternerewitern · errweitern · erweietrn · erweitenr · erweiternn · erweiterrn · erweitren · erweittern
  • erweiterteerewiterte · errweiterte · erweietrte · erweiteret · erweiterrte · erweitertte · erweitetre · erweitrete

Frequency comparison

erweitern#6,294
erweiterte#8,049

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "erweitern" and "erweiterte" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "erweitern" is a verb and "erweiterte" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "erweitern" or "erweiterte"?
"erweitern" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,294 in our German list, against #8,049 for "erweiterte". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering erweitern vs erweiterte

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “erweitern”; for an adjective, it's “erweiterte”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “erweitern” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list