einfordernvserfordernConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#24,309
“einfordern” frequency rank
#10,074
“erfordern” frequency rank
34383
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature einfordern erfordern
Definition etwas mit Nachdruck fordern etwas unbedingt verlangen, etwas notwendig machen

Where the eye mixes einfordern and erfordern

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. einfordern runs 10 letters (VVCCVCCVCC) against erfordern's 9 (VCCVCCVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

10 ch
einfordern
9 ch
erfordern

Visual trap between einfordern and erfordern

A purely visual mix-up. einfordern ([ˈaɪ̯nˌfɔʁdɐn]) and erfordern ([ɛɐ̯ˈfɔʁdɐn]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 34383, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

einfordern is recorded at frequency rank #24,309, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈaɪ̯nˌfɔʁdɐn]. erfordern is at rank #10,074, tagged as averb, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈfɔʁdɐn].

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 34383, this pair ranks #1,664,578 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of einfordern vs erfordern

Shared letters: defnor. Private to "einfordern": i. Private to "erfordern": -.

"einfordern" · 10 letters · shape VVCCVCCVCC  ·  "erfordern" · 9 letters · shape VCCVCCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • einfordern ← eifnordern · einffordern · einfodrern · einforddern · einfordenr · einfordernn · einforderrn · einfordren
  • erfordern ← efrordern · erffordern · erfodrern · erforddern · erfordenr · erfordernn · erforderrn · erfordren

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "einfordern" for "erfordern" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈaɪ̯nˌfɔʁdɐn] versus [ɛɐ̯ˈfɔʁdɐn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "einfordern" or "erfordern"?
"erfordern" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,074 in our German list, against #24,309 for "einfordern". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Eye-level mix-up between "einfordern" and "erfordern" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "einfordern" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "erfordern" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,664,578 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "einfordern" and "erfordern" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "einfordern vs einzufordern". 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 #1,664,578 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list