Which to use
“erfassen” and “erlassen” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #7,311
- “erfassen” frequency rank
- #7,909
- “erlassen” frequency rank
- 15220
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | erfassen | erlassen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | ergreifen, mitreißen; meistens durch ein vorbeikommendes Fahrzeug | eine staatliche Anordnung treffen und verkünden |
Where the eye mixes erfassen and erlassen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. erfassen and erlassen follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCCVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Look-alike desk: erfassen vs erlassen
A purely visual mix-up. erfassen ([ɛɐ̯ˈfasn̩]) and erlassen ([ɛɐ̯ˈlasn̩]) 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 a single letter - f in “erfassen” becomes l in “erlassen”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 15220, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
erfassen is recorded at frequency rank #7,311, classified as averb, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈfasn̩]. erlassen is at rank #7,909, tagged as averb, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈlasn̩].
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 15220, this pair ranks #1,945,503 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of erfassen vs erlassen
Shared letters: aenrs. Private to "erfassen": f. Private to "erlassen": l.
"erfassen" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCCVC · "erlassen" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "erfassen" and "erlassen" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary German text, does "erfassen" or "erlassen" show up more?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "erfassen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "erlassen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,945,503 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "erfassen" and "erlassen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "erlassen vs erlassenen". 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 #1,945,503 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.