Which to use
“erlöschen” and “erwischen” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #33,571
- “erlöschen” frequency rank
- #13,592
- “erwischen” frequency rank
- 47163
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | erlöschen | erwischen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | als Vulkan keine Aktivität mehr zeigen | jemanden oder etwas in die Hände, in die Gewalt, zu fassen bekommen, festhalten |
Where the eye mixes erlöschen and erwischen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. erlöschen and erwischen follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCCVCCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses erlöschen with erwischen
A purely visual mix-up. erlöschen ([ɛɐ̯ˈlœʃn̩]) and erwischen ([ɛɐ̯ˈvɪʃn̩]) 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 47163, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
erlöschen is recorded at frequency rank #33,571, classified as averb, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈlœʃn̩]. erwischen is at rank #13,592, tagged as averb, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈvɪʃn̩].
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 47163, this pair ranks #1,294,001 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of erlöschen vs erwischen
Shared letters: cehnrs. Private to "erlöschen": lö. Private to "erwischen": iw.
"erlöschen" · 9 letters · shape VCCVCCCVC · "erwischen" · 9 letters · shape VCCVCCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- erwischen ← eriwschen · errwischen · erwicshen · erwiscchen · erwiscehn · erwischenn · erwischhen · erwischne
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "erlöschen" and "erwischen" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary German text, does "erlöschen" or "erwischen" show up more?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "erlöschen" and "erwischen" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "erlöschen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "erwischen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,294,001 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "erlöschen" and "erwischen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "erhaschen vs erlöschen". 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 #1,294,001 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.