Which to use
“erfinden” and “erfunden” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #9,535
- “erfinden” frequency rank
- #4,425
- “erfunden” frequency rank
- 13960
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | erfinden | erfunden |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | eine technische Neuheit erdenken; eine Erfindung machen | Partizip Perfekt des Verbs erfinden |
Where the eye mixes erfinden and erfunden
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. erfinden and erfunden follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCCVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Visual trap between erfinden and erfunden
A purely visual mix-up. erfinden ([ɛɐ̯ˈfɪndn̩]) and erfunden ([ɛɐ̯ˈfʊndn̩]) 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 - i in “erfinden” becomes u in “erfunden”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 13960, 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]. erfunden is at rank #4,425, tagged as averb, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈfʊndn̩].
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 13960, this pair ranks #1,954,516 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of erfinden vs erfunden
Shared letters: defnr. Private to "erfinden": i. Private to "erfunden": u.
"erfinden" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCCVC · "erfunden" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "erfinden" and "erfunden" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "erfinden" or "erfunden"?
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 "erfunden" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,954,516 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "erfinden" and "erfunden" 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 #1,954,516 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.