Which to use
“erkannt” is a verb and “erkannten” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #2,711
- “erkannt” frequency rank
- #18,874
- “erkannten” frequency rank
- 21585
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | erkannt | erkannten |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Partizip Perfekt des Verbs erkennen | Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs erkannt |
Where the eye mixes erkannt and erkannten
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. erkannt runs 7 letters (VCCVCCC) against erkannten's 9 (VCCVCCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses erkannt with erkannten
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: erkannt is [ɛɐ̯ˈkant] while erkannten is [ɛɐ̯ˈkantn̩]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “erkannt” sits inside “erkannten”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 21585, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
erkannt is recorded at frequency rank #2,711, classified as averb, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈkant]. erkannten is at rank #18,874, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈkantn̩].
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 21585, this pair ranks #1,884,505 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of erkannt vs erkannten
Shared letters: aeknrt. Private to "erkannt": -. Private to "erkannten": -.
"erkannt" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCCC · "erkannten" · 9 letters · shape VCCVCCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "erkannt" and "erkannten" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "erkannt" vs "erkannten" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "erkannt" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "erkannten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,884,505 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "erkannt" and "erkannten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ergänzten vs erkannten". 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 #1,884,505 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.