Which to use
“ernsten” is an adjective and “erraten” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #17,281
- “ernsten” frequency rank
- #15,875
- “erraten” frequency rank
- 33156
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | ernsten | erraten |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs ernst | die Antwort auf eine Frage, ohne die Antwort zu wissen, richtig beantworten |
Where the eye mixes ernsten and erraten
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: ernsten vs erraten
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: ernsten is [ˈɛʁnstn̩] while erraten is [ɛɐ̯ˈʁaːtn̩]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 33156, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
ernsten is recorded at frequency rank #17,281, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈɛʁnstn̩]. erraten is at rank #15,875, tagged as averb, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈʁaːtn̩].
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 33156, this pair ranks #1,692,075 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of ernsten vs erraten
Shared letters: enrt. Private to "ernsten": s. Private to "erraten": a.
"ernsten" · 7 letters · shape VCCCCVC · "erraten" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "ernsten" for "erraten" ever safe?
Frequency check: "ernsten" vs "erraten" - 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 "ernsten" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "erraten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,692,075 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "ernsten" and "erraten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "erraten vs erregten". 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 #1,692,075 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.