Which to use
“Ermessen” is a noun and “erpressen” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #16,409
- “Ermessen” frequency rank
- #21,591
- “erpressen” frequency rank
- 38000
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Ermessen | erpressen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Auswahl zwischen mehreren gleichermaßen rechtmäßigen Möglichkeiten bei einer behördlichen oder richterlichen Entscheidung (Verwaltungsakt, Urteil, Beschluss) | jemanden durch Drohungen oder Gewalt zu etwas zwingen |
Where the eye mixes Ermessen and erpressen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. Ermessen runs 8 letters (VCCVCCVC) against erpressen's 9 (VCCCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between Ermessen and erpressen
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Ermessen is [ɛɐ̯ˈmɛsn̩] while erpressen is [ɛɐ̯ˈpʁɛsn̩]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 38000, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Ermessen is recorded at frequency rank #16,409, classified as anoun, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈmɛsn̩]. erpressen is at rank #21,591, tagged as averb, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈpʁɛsn̩].
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 38000, this pair ranks #1,575,510 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of Ermessen vs erpressen
Shared letters: enrs. Private to "Ermessen": m. Private to "erpressen": p.
"Ermessen" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCCVC · "erpressen" · 9 letters · shape VCCCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "Ermessen" for "erpressen" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "Ermessen" or "erpressen" show up more?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "Ermessen" and "erpressen" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "Ermessen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "erpressen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,575,510 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Ermessen" and "erpressen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "erpressen vs Erpresser". 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 #1,575,510 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.