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 eye mixes erweitern and erweiterte
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. erweitern runs 9 letters (VCCVVCVCC) against erweiterte's 10 (VCCVVCVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses erweitern with erweiterte
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
- erweitern ← erewitern · errweitern · erweietrn · erweitenr · erweiternn · erweiterrn · erweitren · erweittern
- erweiterte ← erewiterte · errweiterte · erweietrte · erweiteret · erweiterrte · erweitertte · erweitetre · erweitrete
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "erweitern" for "erweiterte" ever safe?
Which is more common, "erweitern" or "erweiterte"?
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 "erweitern" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "erweiterte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,951,858 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "erweitern" and "erweiterte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "erweiterte vs erweitertes". 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 #1,951,858 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.