erfindenvserfindetWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#9,535
“erfinden” frequency rank
#23,502
“erfindet” frequency rank
33037
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature erfinden erfindet
Definition eine technische Neuheit erdenken; eine Erfindung machen 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs erfinden

Where the eye mixes erfinden and erfindet

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. erfinden and erfindet follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCCVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

8 ch
erfinden
8 ch
erfindet

Why the eye confuses erfinden with erfindet

A purely visual mix-up. erfinden ([ɛɐ̯ˈfɪndn̩]) and erfindet ([ɛɐ̯ˈfɪndət]) 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 - n in “erfinden” becomes t in “erfindet”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 33037, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

erfinden is recorded at frequency rank #9,535, classified as averb, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈfɪndn̩]. erfindet is at rank #23,502, tagged as averb, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈfɪndət].

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 33037, this pair ranks #1,694,658 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of erfinden vs erfindet

Shared letters: definr. Private to "erfinden": -. Private to "erfindet": t.

"erfinden" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCCVC  ·  "erfindet" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • erfinden ← efrinden · erffinden · erfidnen · erfindden · erfindenn · erfindne · erfinedn · erfinnden
  • erfindet ← efrindet · erffindet · erfidnet · erfinddet · erfindett · erfindte · erfinedt · erfinndet

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "erfinden" and "erfindet" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ɛɐ̯ˈfɪndn̩] versus [ɛɐ̯ˈfɪndət]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "erfinden" or "erfindet" show up more?
"erfinden" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #9,535 in our German list, against #23,502 for "erfindet". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "erfinden" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "erfindet" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,694,658 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "erfinden" and "erfindet" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "einfinden vs erfinden". 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 #1,694,658 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