Which to use
“erraten” is a verb and “ersten” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #15,875
- “erraten” frequency rank
- #160
- “ersten” frequency rank
- 16035
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | erraten | ersten |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | die Antwort auf eine Frage, ohne die Antwort zu wissen, richtig beantworten | Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs erste |
Where the eye mixes erraten and ersten
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between erraten and ersten
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: erraten is [ɛɐ̯ˈʁaːtn̩] while ersten is [ˈeːɐ̯stn̩]. 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 (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 16035, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
erraten is recorded at frequency rank #15,875, classified as averb, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈʁaːtn̩]. ersten is at rank #160, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈeːɐ̯stn̩].
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 16035, this pair ranks #1,939,159 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of erraten vs ersten
Shared letters: enrt. Private to "erraten": a. Private to "ersten": s.
"erraten" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVC · "ersten" · 6 letters · shape VCCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "erraten" and "ersten" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary German text, does "erraten" or "ersten" show up more?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "erraten" and "ersten" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "erraten" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "ersten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,939,159 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "erraten" and "ersten" 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 #1,939,159 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.