argevsärgernWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: arge is a adjective, ärgern is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

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 spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set arge and ärgern apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
arge
6 ch
ärgern

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

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": .

"arge" · 4 letters · shape VCCV  ·  "ärgern" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • argeagre · areg · argge · arrge

Frequency comparison

arge#19,821
ärgern#8,316

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "arge" and "ärgern" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "arge" is an adjective and "ärgern" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "arge" or "ärgern"?
"ärgern" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,316 in our German list, against #19,821 for "arge". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering arge vs ärgern

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list