erkanntevserkrankteConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#6,418
“erkannte” frequency rank
#14,054
“erkrankte” frequency rank
20472
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature erkannte erkrankte
Definition Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs erkannt Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs erkrankt

Where the eye mixes erkannte and erkrankte

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. erkannte runs 8 letters (VCCVCCCV) against erkrankte's 9 (VCCCVCCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

8 ch
erkannte
9 ch
erkrankte

Visual trap between erkannte and erkrankte

A purely visual mix-up. erkannte ([ɛɐ̯ˈkantə]) and erkrankte ([ɛɐ̯ˈkʁaŋktə]) 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 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 20472, 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]. erkrankte is at rank #14,054, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈkʁaŋktə].

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 20472, this pair ranks #1,897,282 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of erkannte vs erkrankte

Shared letters: aeknrt. Private to "erkannte": -. Private to "erkrankte": -.

"erkannte" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCCCV  ·  "erkrankte" · 9 letters · shape VCCCVCCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • erkannteekrannte · eraknnte · erkannet · erkanntte · erkante · erkantne · erkkannte · erknante
  • erkrankteekrrankte · erkarnkte · erkkrankte · erkraknte · erkranket · erkrankkte · erkranktte · erkrannkte

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "erkannte" and "erkrankte" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ɛɐ̯ˈkantə] versus [ɛɐ̯ˈkʁaŋktə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "erkannte" or "erkrankte"?
"erkannte" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,418 in our German list, against #14,054 for "erkrankte". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "erkannte" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "erkrankte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,897,282 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "erkannte" and "erkrankte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "erkannte vs ernannten". 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 #1,897,282 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