erkanntvserkauftWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#2,711
“erkannt” frequency rank
#35,749
“erkauft” frequency rank
38460
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature erkannt erkauft
Definition Partizip Perfekt des Verbs erkennen 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs erkaufen

Where the eye mixes erkannt and erkauft

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. erkannt (VCCVCCC) and erkauft (VCCVVCC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

7 ch
erkannt
7 ch
erkauft

Why the eye confuses erkannt with erkauft

A purely visual mix-up. erkannt ([ɛɐ̯ˈkant]) and erkauft ([ɛɐ̯ˈkaʊ̯ft]) 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 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 38460, 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]. erkauft is at rank #35,749, tagged as averb, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈkaʊ̯ft].

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 38460, this pair ranks #1,563,408 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of erkannt vs erkauft

Shared letters: aekrt. Private to "erkannt": n. Private to "erkauft": fu.

"erkannt" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCCC  ·  "erkauft" · 7 letters · shape VCCVVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • erkanntekrannt · eraknnt · erkanntt · erkant · erkantn · erkkannt · erknant · errkannt
  • erkauftekrauft · erakuft · erkafut · erkaufft · erkauftt · erkautf · erkkauft · erkuaft

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "erkannt" and "erkauft" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ɛɐ̯ˈkant] versus [ɛɐ̯ˈkaʊ̯ft]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "erkannt" vs "erkauft" - which ranks higher?
"erkannt" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,711 in our German list, against #35,749 for "erkauft". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Useful next steps

Eye-level mix-up between "erkannt" and "erkauft" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "erkannt" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "erkauft" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,563,408 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "erkannt" and "erkauft" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "einkauft vs erkauft". 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 #1,563,408 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