Which to use
“erkranken” is a verb and “erkrankte” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #19,895
- “erkranken” frequency rank
- #14,054
- “erkrankte” frequency rank
- 33949
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | erkranken | erkrankte |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | krank werden; eine Krankheit bekommen | Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs erkrankt |
Where the eye mixes erkranken and erkrankte
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. erkranken (VCCCVCCVC) and erkrankte (VCCCVCCCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Why the eye confuses erkranken with erkrankte
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: erkranken is [ɛɐ̯ˈkʁaŋkn̩] while erkrankte is [ɛɐ̯ˈkʁaŋktə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 33949, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
erkranken is recorded at frequency rank #19,895, classified as averb, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈkʁaŋkn̩]. erkrankte is at rank #14,054, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈkʁaŋktə].
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 33949, this pair ranks #1,674,462 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of erkranken vs erkrankte
Shared letters: aeknr. Private to "erkranken": -. Private to "erkrankte": t.
"erkranken" · 9 letters · shape VCCCVCCVC · "erkrankte" · 9 letters · shape VCCCVCCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "erkranken" and "erkrankte" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "erkranken" vs "erkrankte" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "erkranken" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "erkrankte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,674,462 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "erkranken" and "erkrankte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "erkranken vs ertränken". 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 #1,674,462 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.