Which to use
“erfahrene” is an adjective and “ernähren” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #9,709
- “erfahrene” frequency rank
- #7,910
- “ernähren” frequency rank
- 17619
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | erfahrene | ernähren |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs erfahren | regelmäßig für Nahrung sorgen |
Where the eye mixes erfahrene and ernähren
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: erfahrene vs ernähren
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: erfahrene is [ɛɐ̯ˈfaːʁənə] while ernähren is [ɛɐ̯ˈnɛːʁən]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 17619, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
erfahrene is recorded at frequency rank #9,709, classified as anadj, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈfaːʁənə]. ernähren is at rank #7,910, tagged as averb, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈnɛːʁən].
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 17619, this pair ranks #1,925,792 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of erfahrene vs ernähren
Shared letters: ehnr. Private to "erfahrene": af. Private to "ernähren": ä.
"erfahrene" · 9 letters · shape VCCVCCVCV · "ernähren" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- erfahrene ← efrahrene · erafhrene · erfaherne · erfahhrene · erfahreen · erfahrenne · erfahrnee · erfahrrene
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "erfahrene" and "ernähren" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "erfahrene" vs "ernähren" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "erfahrene" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "ernähren" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,925,792 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "erfahrene" and "ernähren" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ernähre vs ernähren". 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 #1,925,792 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.