Which to use
“erkämpfen” is a verb and “erkämpfte” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #30,535
- “erkämpfen” frequency rank
- #30,536
- “erkämpfte” frequency rank
- 61071
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | erkämpfen | erkämpfte |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | durch Anstrengung gewinnen | Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs erkämpft |
Where the eye mixes erkämpfen and erkämpfte
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: erkämpfen is [ɛɐ̯ˈkɛmp͡fn̩] while erkämpfte is [ɛɐ̯ˈkɛmp͡ftə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 61071, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
erkämpfen is recorded at frequency rank #30,535, classified as averb, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈkɛmp͡fn̩]. erkämpfte is at rank #30,536, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈkɛmp͡ftə].
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 61071, this pair ranks #763,369 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of erkämpfen vs erkämpfte
Shared letters: efkmprä. Private to "erkämpfen": n. Private to "erkämpfte": t.
"erkämpfen" · 9 letters · shape VCCVCCCVC · "erkämpfte" · 9 letters · shape VCCVCCCCV