Which to use
“Elster” is a noun and “erstem” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #15,613
- “Elster” frequency rank
- #18,228
- “erstem” frequency rank
- 33841
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Elster | erstem |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | ein langschwänziger Vogel (Pica und verwandte Gattungen) aus der Familie der Rabenvögel (Corvidae) | Dativ Singular Maskulinum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs erste |
Where the eye mixes Elster and erstem
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses Elster with erstem
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Elster is [ˈɛlstɐ] while erstem is [ˈeːɐ̯stəm]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 33841, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Elster is recorded at frequency rank #15,613, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈɛlstɐ]. erstem is at rank #18,228, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈeːɐ̯stəm].
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 33841, this pair ranks #1,676,880 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of Elster vs erstem
Shared letters: erst. Private to "Elster": l. Private to "erstem": m.
"Elster" · 6 letters · shape VCCCVC · "erstem" · 6 letters · shape VCCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "Elster" for "erstem" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "Elster" or "erstem" show up more?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "Elster" and "erstem" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "Elster" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "erstem" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,676,880 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Elster" and "erstem" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Easter vs erstem". 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 #1,676,880 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.