echtenvserstenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“echten” and “ersten” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#2,539
“echten” frequency rank
#160
“ersten” frequency rank
2699
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature echten ersten
Definition Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs echt Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs erste

Where the eye mixes echten and ersten

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

6 ch
echten
6 ch
ersten

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. echten ([ˈɛçtn̩]) and ersten ([ˈeːɐ̯stn̩]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 2699, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

echten is recorded at frequency rank #2,539, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈɛçtn̩]. ersten is at rank #160, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈeːɐ̯stn̩].

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 2699, this pair ranks #2,001,776 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of echten vs ersten

Shared letters: ent. Private to "echten": ch. Private to "ersten": rs.

"echten" · 6 letters · shape VCCCVC  ·  "ersten" · 6 letters · shape VCCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • echtencehten · ecchten · echetn · echhten · echtenn · echtne · echtten · ecthen
  • erstenerrsten · ersetn · erssten · erstenn · erstne · erstten · ertsen · esrten

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "echten" and "ersten" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈɛçtn̩] versus [ˈeːɐ̯stn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "echten" or "ersten"?
"ersten" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #160 in our German list, against #2,539 for "echten". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list