ärgerevsärgertWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#22,986
“ärgere” frequency rank
#10,786
“ärgert” frequency rank
33772
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

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

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set ärgere and ärgert apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
ärgere
6 ch
ärgert

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: ärgere is [ˈɛʁɡəʁə] while ärgert is [ˈɛʁɡɐt]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - e in “ärgere” becomes t in “ärgert”, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 33772, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ärgere is recorded at frequency rank #22,986, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈɛʁɡəʁə]. 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 33772, this pair ranks #1,678,454 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of ärgere vs ärgert

Shared letters: egrä. Private to "ärgere": -. Private to "ärgert": t.

"ärgere" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCV  ·  "ärgert" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCC

Frequency comparison

ärgere#22,986
ärgert#10,786

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "ärgere" and "ärgert" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "ärgere" is an adjective and "ärgert" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "ärgere" or "ärgert"?
"ärgert" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,786 in our German list, against #22,986 for "ärgere". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering ärgere vs ärgert

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “ärgere”; for a verb, it's “ärgert”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “ärgere” 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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list