Which to use
“erkannte” is an adjective and “ernannt” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #6,418
- “erkannte” frequency rank
- #6,531
- “ernannt” frequency rank
- 12949
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | erkannte | ernannt |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs erkannt | Partizip Perfekt des Verbs ernennen |
Where the eye mixes erkannte and ernannt
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. erkannte runs 8 letters (VCCVCCCV) against ernannt's 7 (VCCVCCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses erkannte with ernannt
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: erkannte is [ɛɐ̯ˈkantə] while ernannt is [ɛɐ̯ˈnant]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 12949, 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]. ernannt is at rank #6,531, tagged as averb, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈnant].
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 12949, this pair ranks #1,961,048 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of erkannte vs ernannt
Shared letters: aenrt. Private to "erkannte": k. Private to "ernannt": -.
"erkannte" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCCCV · "ernannt" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "erkannte" for "ernannt" ever safe?
Which is more common, "erkannte" or "ernannt"?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "erkannte" and "ernannt" 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 "ernannt" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,961,048 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "erkannte" and "ernannt" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ernannt vs ernennt". 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 #1,961,048 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.