Which to use
“erkranken” is a verb and “ertrunken” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #19,895
- “erkranken” frequency rank
- #20,906
- “ertrunken” frequency rank
- 40801
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | erkranken | ertrunken |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | krank werden; eine Krankheit bekommen | durch Versinken in Wasser (und folgenden Sauerstoffmangel) gestorben |
Where the eye mixes erkranken and ertrunken
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. erkranken and ertrunken follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCCCVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Look-alike desk: erkranken vs ertrunken
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: erkranken is [ɛɐ̯ˈkʁaŋkn̩] while ertrunken is [ɛɐ̯ˈtʁʊŋkn̩]. 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 40801, 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]. ertrunken is at rank #20,906, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈtʁʊŋkn̩].
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 40801, this pair ranks #1,497,889 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of erkranken vs ertrunken
Shared letters: eknr. Private to "erkranken": a. Private to "ertrunken": tu.
"erkranken" · 9 letters · shape VCCCVCCVC · "ertrunken" · 9 letters · shape VCCCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "erkranken" for "ertrunken" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "erkranken" or "ertrunken" show up more?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "erkranken" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "ertrunken" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,497,889 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "erkranken" and "ertrunken" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ertränken vs ertrunken". 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 #1,497,889 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.