Which to use
“Ärger” is a noun and “ärgere” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #3,498
- “Ärger” frequency rank
- #22,986
- “ärgere” frequency rank
- 26484
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Ärger | ärgere |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | spontane, innere, emotionale Reaktion hochgradiger Unzufriedenheit auf eine Situation, eine Person oder eine Erinnerung, die der Verärgerte lieber anders gesehen hätte | Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Komparativs des Adjektivs arg |
Where the eye mixes Ärger and ärgere
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. Ärger runs 5 letters (VCCVC) against ärgere's 6 (VCCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses Ärger with ärgere
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Ärger is [ˈɛʁɡɐ] while ärgere is [ˈɛʁɡəʁə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “Ärger” sits inside “ärgere”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 26484, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Ärger is recorded at frequency rank #3,498, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈɛʁɡɐ]. ärgere is at rank #22,986, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈɛʁɡəʁə].
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 26484, this pair ranks #1,817,332 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of Ärger vs ärgere
Shared letters: egrä. Private to "Ärger": -. Private to "ärgere": -.
"Ärger" · 5 letters · shape VCCVC · "ärgere" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCV
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "Ärger" and "ärgere" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "Ärger" or "ärgere" show up more?
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 "Ärger" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "ärgere" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,817,332 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Ärger" and "ärgere" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ärgere vs ärmere". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #1,817,332 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.