Which to use
“erlegen” and “erregen” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #24,699
- “erlegen” frequency rank
- #17,875
- “erregen” frequency rank
- 42574
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | erlegen | erregen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | ein Tier bei der Jagd (durch einen Schuss) töten | jemanden oder sich in Unruhe oder Ärger versetzen; jemanden aktivieren; jemanden (sexuell) stimulieren |
Where the eye mixes erlegen and erregen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. erlegen and erregen follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCCVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Visual trap between erlegen and erregen
A purely visual mix-up. erlegen ([ɛɐ̯ˈleːɡn̩]) and erregen ([ɛɐ̯ˈʁeːɡn̩]) 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 a single letter - l in “erlegen” becomes r in “erregen”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 42574, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
erlegen is recorded at frequency rank #24,699, classified as averb, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈleːɡn̩]. erregen is at rank #17,875, tagged as averb, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈʁeːɡn̩].
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 42574, this pair ranks #1,445,170 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of erlegen vs erregen
Shared letters: egnr. Private to "erlegen": l. Private to "erregen": -.
"erlegen" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVC · "erregen" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "erlegen" for "erregen" ever safe?
Frequency check: "erlegen" vs "erregen" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "erlegen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "erregen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,445,170 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "erlegen" and "erregen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "erlegen vs erregten". 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 #1,445,170 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.