Which to use
“erweitern” is a verb and “erweiterten” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #6,294
- “erweitern” frequency rank
- #9,539
- “erweiterten” frequency rank
- 15833
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | erweitern | erweiterten |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | vergrößern, weiten | Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs erweitert |
Where the eye mixes erweitern and erweiterten
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence. erweitern runs 9 letters (VCCVVCVCC) against erweiterten's 11 (VCCVVCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between erweitern and erweiterten
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: erweitern is [ɛɐ̯ˈvaɪ̯tɐn] while erweiterten is [ɛɐ̯ˈvaɪ̯tɐtn̩]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 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 15833, 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]. erweiterten is at rank #9,539, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈvaɪ̯tɐtn̩].
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 15833, this pair ranks #1,940,791 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of erweitern vs erweiterten
Shared letters: einrtw. Private to "erweitern": -. Private to "erweiterten": -.
"erweitern" · 9 letters · shape VCCVVCVCC · "erweiterten" · 11 letters · shape VCCVVCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- erweitern ← erewitern · errweitern · erweietrn · erweitenr · erweiternn · erweiterrn · erweitren · erweittern
- erweiterten ← erewiterten · errweiterten · erweietrten · erweiteretn · erweiterrten · erweitertenn · erweitertne · erweitertten
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "erweitern" and "erweiterten" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "erweitern" vs "erweiterten" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "erweitern" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "erweiterten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,940,791 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "erweitern" and "erweiterten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "erweiterten 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 #1,940,791 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.