erfasstvserfassteTell them apart

Quick tell: erfasst is a verb, erfasste is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“erfasst” is a verb and “erfasste” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#3,370
“erfasst” frequency rank
#20,570
“erfasste” frequency rank
23940
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature erfasst erfasste
Definition Partizip Perfekt des Verbs erfassen Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs erfasst

Where the eye mixes erfasst and erfasste

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

7 ch
erfasst
8 ch
erfasste

Why the eye confuses erfasst with erfasste

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: erfasst is [ɛɐ̯ˈfast] while erfasste is [ɛɐ̯ˈfastə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “erfasst” sits inside “erfasste”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 23940, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

erfasst is recorded at frequency rank #3,370, classified as averb, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈfast]. erfasste is at rank #20,570, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈfastə].

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 23940, this pair ranks #1,854,513 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of erfasst vs erfasste

Shared letters: aefrst. Private to "erfasst": -. Private to "erfasste": -.

"erfasst" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCCC  ·  "erfasste" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • erfasst ← efrasst · erafsst · erfasstt · erfast · erfasts · erfaßt · erffasst · erfsast
  • erfasste ← efrasste · erafsste · erfasset · erfasstte · erfaste · erfastse · erfaßte · erffasste

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "erfasst" and "erfasste" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "erfasst" is a verb and "erfasste" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "erfasst" or "erfasste" show up more?
"erfasst" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,370 in our German list, against #20,570 for "erfasste". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "erfasst" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "erfasste" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,854,513 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "erfasst" and "erfasste" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "erfasste vs erlässt". 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 #1,854,513 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