einkauftvserkauftConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#45,884
“einkauft” frequency rank
#35,749
“erkauft” frequency rank
81633
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature einkauft erkauft
Definition 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv der Nebensatzkonjugation des Verbs einkaufen 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs erkaufen

Where the eye mixes einkauft and erkauft

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. einkauft runs 8 letters (VVCCVVCC) against erkauft's 7 (VCCVVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

8 ch
einkauft
7 ch
erkauft

Look-alike desk: einkauft vs erkauft

A purely visual mix-up. einkauft ([ˈaɪ̯nˌkaʊ̯ft]) and erkauft ([ɛɐ̯ˈkaʊ̯ft]) 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 81633, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

einkauft is recorded at frequency rank #45,884, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈaɪ̯nˌkaʊ̯ft]. erkauft is at rank #35,749, tagged as averb, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈkaʊ̯ft].

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 81633, this pair ranks #172,073 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of einkauft vs erkauft

Shared letters: aefktu. Private to "einkauft": in. Private to "erkauft": r.

"einkauft" · 8 letters · shape VVCCVVCC  ·  "erkauft" · 7 letters · shape VCCVVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • einkauft ← eiknauft · einakuft · einkafut · einkaufft · einkauftt · einkautf · einkkauft · einkuaft
  • erkauft ← ekrauft · erakuft · erkafut · erkaufft · erkauftt · erkautf · erkkauft · erkuaft

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "einkauft" and "erkauft" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈaɪ̯nˌkaʊ̯ft] versus [ɛɐ̯ˈkaʊ̯ft]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "einkauft" vs "erkauft" - which ranks higher?
"erkauft" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #35,749 in our German list, against #45,884 for "einkauft". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "einkauft" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "erkauft" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #172,073 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "einkauft" and "erkauft" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "einkauft vs Einlauf". 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 #172,073 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