Which to use
“E” is a character and “er” is a pronoun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #271
- “E” frequency rank
- #25
- “er” frequency rank
- 296
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | E | er |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | fünfter Buchstabe des lateinischen Alphabets | Personalpronomen 3. Person Neutrum Singular, welches eine zuvor benutzte Nominalphrase im Maskulinum (Person, Tier, Sache oder Abstraktum) ersetzt oder bei fehlendem oder weit entferntem Bezugswort auf eine Person männlichen natürlichen Geschlechts verweist |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set E and er apart are highlighted. They share 1 letter in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
E and er form a confusable pair in the German index, two distinct headwords that are easily confused because they look alike, sound alike, or both. They differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “E” sits inside “er” - close enough that the eye skips over the difference, far enough that meaning fully diverges. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 296, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
E is recorded at frequency rank #271, classified as acharacter, pronounced [ʔeː]. er is at rank #25, tagged as apron, pronounced [eːɐ̯].
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 296, this pair ranks #2,006,033 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "E" and "er" be used interchangeably?
Remembering E vs er
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need a character, it's “E”; for a pronoun, it's “er”.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “E” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable