Which to use
“erlernten” and “ersehnten” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #38,719
- “erlernten” frequency rank
- #38,087
- “ersehnten” frequency rank
- 76806
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | erlernten | ersehnten |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs erlernt | Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs ersehnt |
Where the eye mixes erlernten and ersehnten
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. erlernten and ersehnten follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCCVCCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Look-alike desk: erlernten vs ersehnten
A purely visual mix-up. erlernten ([ɛɐ̯ˈlɛʁntn̩]) and ersehnten ([ɛɐ̯ˈzeːntn̩]) 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 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 76806, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
erlernten is recorded at frequency rank #38,719, classified as anadj, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈlɛʁntn̩]. ersehnten is at rank #38,087, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈzeːntn̩].
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 76806, this pair ranks #275,288 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of erlernten vs ersehnten
Shared letters: enrt. Private to "erlernten": l. Private to "ersehnten": hs.
"erlernten" · 9 letters · shape VCCVCCCVC · "ersehnten" · 9 letters · shape VCCVCCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "erlernten" and "ersehnten" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "erlernten" or "ersehnten" show up more?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "erlernten" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "ersehnten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #275,288 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "erlernten" and "ersehnten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ersehnten vs ersetzten". 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 #275,288 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.