erlangtevserlangtenWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#17,280
“erlangte” frequency rank
#28,638
“erlangten” frequency rank
45918
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature erlangte erlangten
Definition Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs erlangt Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs erlangt

Where the eye mixes erlangte and erlangten

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. erlangte runs 8 letters (VCCVCCCV) against erlangten's 9 (VCCVCCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

8 ch
erlangte
9 ch
erlangten

Look-alike desk: erlangte vs erlangten

A purely visual mix-up. erlangte ([ɛɐ̯ˈlaŋtə]) and erlangten ([ɛɐ̯ˈlaŋtn̩]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “erlangte” sits inside “erlangten”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 45918, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

erlangte is recorded at frequency rank #17,280, classified as anadj, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈlaŋtə]. erlangten is at rank #28,638, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈlaŋtn̩].

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 45918, this pair ranks #1,336,733 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of erlangte vs erlangten

Shared letters: aeglnrt. Private to "erlangte": -. Private to "erlangten": -.

"erlangte" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCCCV  ·  "erlangten" · 9 letters · shape VCCVCCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • erlangteelrangte · eralngte · erlagnte · erlanget · erlanggte · erlangtte · erlanngte · erlantge
  • erlangtenelrangten · eralngten · erlagnten · erlangetn · erlanggten · erlangtenn · erlangtne · erlangtten

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "erlangte" and "erlangten" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ɛɐ̯ˈlaŋtə] versus [ɛɐ̯ˈlaŋtn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "erlangte" or "erlangten" show up more?
"erlangte" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #17,280 in our German list, against #28,638 for "erlangten". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "erlangte" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "erlangten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,336,733 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "erlangte" and "erlangten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "erhängen vs erlangten". 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 #1,336,733 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