erkanntvserkenntWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#2,711
“erkannt” frequency rank
#2,761
“erkennt” frequency rank
5472
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

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

Where the eye mixes erkannt and erkennt

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.

7 ch
erkannt
7 ch
erkennt

Why the eye confuses erkannt with erkennt

A purely visual mix-up. erkannt ([ɛɐ̯ˈkant]) and erkennt ([ɛɐ̯ˈkɛnt]) 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 - a in “erkannt” becomes e in “erkennt”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 5472, 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]. erkennt is at rank #2,761, tagged as averb, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈkɛnt].

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 5472, this pair ranks #1,994,656 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of erkannt vs erkennt

Shared letters: eknrt. Private to "erkannt": a. Private to "erkennt": -.

"erkannt" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCCC  ·  "erkennt" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • erkanntekrannt · eraknnt · erkanntt · erkant · erkantn · erkkannt · erknant · errkannt
  • erkenntekrennt · ereknnt · erkenntt · erkent · erkentn · erkkennt · erknent · errkennt

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "erkannt" and "erkennt" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ɛɐ̯ˈkant] versus [ɛɐ̯ˈkɛnt]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "erkannt" or "erkennt"?
"erkannt" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,711 in our German list, against #2,761 for "erkennt". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Eye-level mix-up between "erkannt" and "erkennt" 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 "erkennt" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,994,656 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "erkannt" and "erkennt" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "erkannt 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 #1,994,656 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