erklärtvserspartWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#760
“erklärt” frequency rank
#8,857
“erspart” frequency rank
9617
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature erklärt erspart
Definition Partizip Perfekt des Verbs erklären Partizip Perfekt des Verbs ersparen

Where the eye mixes erklärt and erspart

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

7 ch
erklärt
7 ch
erspart

Look-alike desk: erklärt vs erspart

A purely visual mix-up. erklärt ([ɛɐ̯ˈklɛːɐ̯t]) and erspart ([ɛɐ̯ˈʃpaːɐ̯t]) 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 9617, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

erklärt is recorded at frequency rank #760, classified as averb, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈklɛːɐ̯t]. erspart is at rank #8,857, tagged as averb, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈʃpaːɐ̯t].

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 9617, this pair ranks #1,979,104 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of erklärt vs erspart

Shared letters: ert. Private to "erklärt": klä. Private to "erspart": aps.

"erklärt" · 7 letters · shape VCCCVCC  ·  "erspart" · 7 letters · shape VCCCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • erspart ← erpsart · errspart · ersaprt · ersparrt · erspartt · erspatr · ersppart · ersprat

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "erklärt" for "erspart" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ɛɐ̯ˈklɛːɐ̯t] versus [ɛɐ̯ˈʃpaːɐ̯t]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "erklärt" or "erspart"?
"erklärt" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #760 in our German list, against #8,857 for "erspart". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "erklärt" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "erspart" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,979,104 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "erklärt" and "erspart" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "erspart vs Erspartes". 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 #1,979,104 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