Which to use
“erkannten” and “erlangten” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #18,874
- “erkannten” frequency rank
- #28,638
- “erlangten” frequency rank
- 47512
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | erkannten | erlangten |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs erkannt | Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs erlangt |
Where the eye mixes erkannten and erlangten
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. erkannten and erlangten follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCCVCCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Visual trap between erkannten and erlangten
A purely visual mix-up. erkannten ([ɛɐ̯ˈkantn̩]) and erlangten ([ɛɐ̯ˈlaŋtn̩]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 47512, 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]. erlangten is at rank #28,638, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈlaŋtn̩].
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 47512, this pair ranks #1,281,680 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of erkannten vs erlangten
Shared letters: aenrt. Private to "erkannten": k. Private to "erlangten": gl.
"erkannten" · 9 letters · shape VCCVCCCVC · "erlangten" · 9 letters · shape VCCVCCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "erkannten" for "erlangten" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "erkannten" or "erlangten" show up more?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "erkannten" and "erlangten" 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 "erlangten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,281,680 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "erkannten" and "erlangten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "erhängen vs erlangten". 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 #1,281,680 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.