Which to use
“ärgern” is a verb and “Arten” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #8,316
- “ärgern” frequency rank
- #1,653
- “Arten” frequency rank
- 9969
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | ärgern | Arten |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | (jemanden) necken, Ärger verursachen | Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Art |
Where the eye mixes ärgern and Arten
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. ärgern runs 6 letters (VCCVCC) against Arten's 5 (VCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between ärgern and Arten
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: ärgern is [ˈɛʁɡɐn] while Arten is [ˈaːɐ̯tn̩]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 9969, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
ärgern is recorded at frequency rank #8,316, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈɛʁɡɐn]. Arten is at rank #1,653, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈaːɐ̯tn̩].
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 9969, this pair ranks #1,977,410 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of ärgern vs Arten
Shared letters: enr. Private to "ärgern": gä. Private to "Arten": at.
"ärgern" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCC · "Arten" · 5 letters · shape VCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- Arten ← aretn · arrten · artenn · artne · artten · atren
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "ärgern" for "Arten" ever safe?
Which is more common, "ärgern" or "Arten"?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "ärgern" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "Arten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,977,410 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "ärgern" and "Arten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ärgern vs ärmere". 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 #1,977,410 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.