erzählt vs erzählten, What's the Difference?

Which to use

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

#926
“erzählt” frequency rank: #16,694
“erzählten” frequency rank: 17620
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	erzählt	erzählten
Definition	Partizip Perfekt des Verbs erzählen	Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs erzählt

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set erzählt and erzählten apart are highlighted. They share 7 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch

erzählt

9 ch

erzählten

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: erzählt is [ɛɐ̯ˈt͡sɛːlt] while erzählten is [ɛɐ̯ˈt͡sɛːltn̩]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “erzählt” sits inside “erzählten”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 17620, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

erzählt is recorded at frequency rank #926, classified as averb, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈt͡sɛːlt]. erzählten is at rank #16,694, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈt͡sɛːltn̩].

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 17620, this pair ranks #1,925,779 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of erzählt vs erzählten

Shared letters: ehlrtzä. Private to "erzählt": -. Private to "erzählten": n.

"erzählt" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCCC · "erzählten" · 9 letters · shape VCCVCCCVC

Frequency comparison

erzählt#926

erzählten#16,694

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "erzählt" and "erzählten" be used interchangeably?

No - they are not even the same part of speech. "erzählt" is a verb and "erzählten" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.

Which is more common, "erzählt" or "erzählten"?

"erzählt" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #926 in our German list, against #16,694 for "erzählten". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering erzählt vs erzählten

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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