ernährtvsernanntWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#14,057
“ernährt” frequency rank
#6,531
“ernannt” frequency rank
20588
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ernährt ernannt
Definition Partizip Perfekt des Verbs ernähren Partizip Perfekt des Verbs ernennen

Where the eye mixes ernährt and ernannt

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. ernährt and ernannt follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCCVCCC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

7 ch
ernährt
7 ch
ernannt

Why the eye confuses ernährt with ernannt

A purely visual mix-up. ernährt ([ɛɐ̯ˈnɛːɐ̯t]) and ernannt ([ɛɐ̯ˈnant]) 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 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 20588, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ernährt is recorded at frequency rank #14,057, classified as averb, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈnɛːɐ̯t]. ernannt is at rank #6,531, tagged as averb, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈnant].

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 20588, this pair ranks #1,895,989 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of ernährt vs ernannt

Shared letters: enrt. Private to "ernährt": . Private to "ernannt": a.

"ernährt" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCCC  ·  "ernannt" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • ernanntenrannt · erannnt · ernanntt · ernant · ernantn · ernnannt · ernnant · errnannt

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "ernährt" for "ernannt" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ɛɐ̯ˈnɛːɐ̯t] versus [ɛɐ̯ˈnant]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "ernährt" or "ernannt"?
"ernannt" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,531 in our German list, against #14,057 for "ernährt". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "ernährt" and "ernannt" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "ernährt" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "ernannt" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,895,989 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "ernährt" and "ernannt" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ernähre vs ernährt". 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 #1,895,989 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