Which to use
“erkläre” is a verb and “erklärte” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #9,013
- “erkläre” frequency rank
- #2,245
- “erklärte” frequency rank
- 11258
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | erkläre | erklärte |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs erklären | Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs erklärt |
Where the eye mixes erkläre and erklärte
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. erkläre runs 7 letters (VCCCVCV) against erklärte's 8 (VCCCVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between erkläre and erklärte
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: erkläre is [ɛɐ̯ˈklɛːʁə] while erklärte is [ɛɐ̯ˈklɛːɐ̯tə]. 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 (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 11258, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
erkläre is recorded at frequency rank #9,013, classified as averb, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈklɛːʁə]. erklärte is at rank #2,245, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈklɛːɐ̯tə].
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 11258, this pair ranks #1,970,826 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of erkläre vs erklärte
Shared letters: eklrä. Private to "erkläre": -. Private to "erklärte": t.
"erkläre" · 7 letters · shape VCCCVCV · "erklärte" · 8 letters · shape VCCCVCCV
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "erkläre" for "erklärte" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "erkläre" or "erklärte" show up more?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "erkläre" and "erklärte" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "erkläre" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "erklärte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,970,826 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "erkläre" and "erklärte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "erkläre vs erklärtes". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #1,970,826 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.