argevsärgertWhich spelling fits?

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

Which to use

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

#19,821
“arge” frequency rank
#10,786
“ärgert” frequency rank
30607
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature arge ärgert
Definition Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs arg 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs ärgern

Where the eye mixes arge and ärgert

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. arge runs 4 letters (VCCV) against ärgert's 6 (VCCVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

4 ch
arge
6 ch
ärgert

Visual trap between arge and ärgert

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: arge is [ˈaʁɡə] while ärgert is [ˈɛʁɡɐt]. 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 30607, 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]. ärgert is at rank #10,786, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈɛʁɡɐt].

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 30607, this pair ranks #1,744,523 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of arge vs ärgert

Shared letters: egr. Private to "arge": a. Private to "ärgert": tä.

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

Known mistypes of this pair

  • arge ← agre · areg · argge · arrge

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "arge" and "ärgert" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "arge" is an adjective and "ärgert" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "arge" or "ärgert"?
"ärgert" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,786 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.

Useful next steps

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "arge" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "ärgert" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,744,523 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "arge" and "ärgert" 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 #1,744,523 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