Which to use
“arge” is an adjective and “ärgern” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #19,821
- “arge” frequency rank
- #8,316
- “ärgern” frequency rank
- 28137
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | arge | ärgern |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs arg | (jemanden) necken, Ärger verursachen |
Where the eye mixes arge and ärgern
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. arge runs 4 letters (VCCV) against ärgern's 6 (VCCVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between arge and ärgern
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: arge is [ˈaʁɡə] while ärgern is [ˈɛʁɡɐn]. 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 (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 28137, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
arge is recorded at frequency rank #19,821, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈaʁɡə]. ärgern is at rank #8,316, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈɛʁɡɐn].
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 28137, this pair ranks #1,789,912 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of arge vs ärgern
Shared letters: egr. Private to "arge": a. Private to "ärgern": nä.
"arge" · 4 letters · shape VCCV · "ärgern" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- arge ← agre · areg · argge · arrge
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "arge" and "ärgern" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "arge" vs "ärgern" - which ranks higher?
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 "arge" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "ärgern" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,789,912 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "arge" and "ärgern" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "arge vs Atze". 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 #1,789,912 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.