Which to use
“erkannten” is an adjective and “erkennen” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #18,874
- “erkannten” frequency rank
- #1,054
- “erkennen” frequency rank
- 19928
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | erkannten | erkennen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs erkannt | etwas oder jemanden so deutlich wahrnehmen, dass man weiß, was oder wer es ist (im Sinne von etwas wiedererkennen) |
Where the eye mixes erkannten and erkennen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. erkannten runs 9 letters (VCCVCCCVC) against erkennen's 8 (VCCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses erkannten with erkennen
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: erkannten is [ɛɐ̯ˈkantn̩] while erkennen is [ɛɐ̯ˈkɛnən]. 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 19928, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
erkannten is recorded at frequency rank #18,874, classified as anadj, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈkantn̩]. erkennen is at rank #1,054, tagged as averb, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈkɛnən].
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 19928, this pair ranks #1,903,129 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of erkannten vs erkennen
Shared letters: eknr. Private to "erkannten": at. Private to "erkennen": -.
"erkannten" · 9 letters · shape VCCVCCCVC · "erkennen" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "erkannten" and "erkennen" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "erkannten" or "erkennen"?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "erkannten" and "erkennen" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "erkannten" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "erkennen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,903,129 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "erkannten" and "erkennen" 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 #1,903,129 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.