Which to use
“erkannte” and “erkannten” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #6,418
- “erkannte” frequency rank
- #18,874
- “erkannten” frequency rank
- 25292
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | erkannte | erkannten |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs erkannt | Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs erkannt |
Where the eye mixes erkannte and erkannten
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. erkannte runs 8 letters (VCCVCCCV) against erkannten's 9 (VCCVCCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between erkannte and erkannten
A purely visual mix-up. erkannte ([ɛɐ̯ˈkantə]) and erkannten ([ɛɐ̯ˈkantn̩]) 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 1 extra letter(s) - “erkannte” sits inside “erkannten”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 25292, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
erkannte is recorded at frequency rank #6,418, classified as anadj, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈkantə]. 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 25292, this pair ranks #1,835,453 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of erkannte vs erkannten
Shared letters: aeknrt. Private to "erkannte": -. Private to "erkannten": -.
"erkannte" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCCCV · "erkannten" · 9 letters · shape VCCVCCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "erkannte" for "erkannten" ever safe?
Which is more common, "erkannte" or "erkannten"?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "erkannte" 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 #1,835,453 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "erkannte" 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 #1,835,453 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.