öffnevsöffnenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“öffne” and “öffnen” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#13,081
“öffne” frequency rank
#2,007
“öffnen” frequency rank
15088
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature öffne öffnen
Definition 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs öffnen etwas aufmachen; offen machen

Where the eye mixes öffne and öffnen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. öffne runs 5 letters (VCCCV) against öffnen's 6 (VCCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

5 ch
öffne
6 ch
öffnen

Visual trap between öffne and öffnen

A purely visual mix-up. öffne ([ˈœfnə]) and öffnen ([ˈœfnən]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “öffne” sits inside “öffnen”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 15088, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

öffne is recorded at frequency rank #13,081, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈœfnə]. öffnen is at rank #2,007, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈœfnən].

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 15088, this pair ranks #1,946,490 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of öffne vs öffnen

Shared letters: efnö. Private to "öffne": -. Private to "öffnen": -.

"öffne" · 5 letters · shape VCCCV  ·  "öffnen" · 6 letters · shape VCCCVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "öffne" and "öffnen" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈœfnə] versus [ˈœfnən]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "öffne" vs "öffnen" - which ranks higher?
"öffnen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,007 in our German list, against #13,081 for "öffne". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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 "öffne" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "öffnen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,946,490 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "öffne" and "öffnen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "öffne vs ordne". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #1,946,490 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list