Which to use
“ergänzen” and “erlangen” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #7,312
- “ergänzen” frequency rank
- #3,885
- “erlangen” frequency rank
- 11197
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | ergänzen | erlangen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | zur Bereicherung hinzufügen | in Besitz nehmen, habhaft werden, erreichen |
Where the eye mixes ergänzen and erlangen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. ergänzen and erlangen follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCCVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Look-alike desk: ergänzen vs erlangen
A purely visual mix-up. ergänzen ([ɛɐ̯ˈɡɛnt͡sn̩]) and erlangen ([ɛɐ̯ˈlaŋən]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 11197, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
ergänzen is recorded at frequency rank #7,312, classified as averb, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈɡɛnt͡sn̩]. erlangen is at rank #3,885, tagged as averb, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈlaŋən].
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 11197, this pair ranks #1,971,159 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of ergänzen vs erlangen
Shared letters: egnr. Private to "ergänzen": zä. Private to "erlangen": al.
"ergänzen" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCCVC · "erlangen" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- erlangen ← elrangen · eralngen · erlagnen · erlanegn · erlangenn · erlanggen · erlangne · erlanngen
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "ergänzen" for "erlangen" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "ergänzen" or "erlangen" show up more?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "ergänzen" and "erlangen" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "ergänzen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "erlangen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,971,159 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "ergänzen" and "erlangen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ergänze vs ergänzen". 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 #1,971,159 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.