erklangvserklärtWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#36,915
“erklang” frequency rank
#760
“erklärt” frequency rank
37675
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature erklang erklärt
Definition 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs erklingen Partizip Perfekt des Verbs erklären

Where the eye mixes erklang and erklärt

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. erklang and erklärt follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCCCVCC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

7 ch
erklang
7 ch
erklärt

Visual trap between erklang and erklärt

A purely visual mix-up. erklang ([ɛɐ̯ˈklaŋ]) and erklärt ([ɛɐ̯ˈklɛːɐ̯t]) 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 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 37675, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

erklang is recorded at frequency rank #36,915, classified as averb, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈklaŋ]. erklärt is at rank #760, tagged as averb, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈklɛːɐ̯t].

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 37675, this pair ranks #1,583,989 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of erklang vs erklärt

Shared letters: eklr. Private to "erklang": agn. Private to "erklärt": tä.

"erklang" · 7 letters · shape VCCCVCC  ·  "erklärt" · 7 letters · shape VCCCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • erklang ← ekrlang · erkalng · erkklang · erklagn · erklangg · erklanng · erkllang · erklnag

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "erklang" for "erklärt" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ɛɐ̯ˈklaŋ] versus [ɛɐ̯ˈklɛːɐ̯t]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "erklang" or "erklärt"?
"erklärt" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #760 in our German list, against #36,915 for "erklang". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "erklang" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "erklärt" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,583,989 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "erklang" and "erklärt" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "erklang vs erklingt". 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 #1,583,989 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