Which to use
“Ernste” is a noun and “erster” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #10,646
- “Ernste” frequency rank
- #761
- “erster” frequency rank
- 11407
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Ernste | erster |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Variante für den Dativ Singular des Substantivs Ernst | Nominativ Singular Maskulinum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs erste |
Where the eye mixes Ernste and erster
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between Ernste and erster
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Ernste is [ˈɛʁnstə] while erster is [ˈeːɐ̯stɐ]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 4 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 11407, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Ernste is recorded at frequency rank #10,646, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈɛʁnstə]. erster is at rank #761, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈeːɐ̯stɐ].
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 11407, this pair ranks #1,970,022 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of Ernste vs erster
Shared letters: erst. Private to "Ernste": n. Private to "erster": -.
"Ernste" · 6 letters · shape VCCCCV · "erster" · 6 letters · shape VCCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "Ernste" and "erster" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "Ernste" vs "erster" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "Ernste" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "erster" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,970,022 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Ernste" and "erster" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Erbse vs Ernste". 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 #1,970,022 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.